Whoa! I Have a Blog‽

You may have noticed I have taken a small hiatus from blogging. I wanted to touch base with you to thank you for continuing to revisit the site and for staying subscribed. Please rest assured that I'm not going anywhere.

Snow & Ice on a bridge

I have been thinking a lot about voice lately, and how successful people have distinct voices. I define "successful people" as being those folks lucky enough to make a living doing what they want while getting invited to all the cool parties. My calendar by comparison is completely open this weekend with no prospects of being filled up. You draw your own conclusions there.

Everybody has a voice by what they do, say & write, but not all of us are aware of that voice. Being unaware, we cannot cultivate our voice to become truly distinct individuals. I believe that has happened to me. In my efforts to produce a blog worthy of notice, I have become very serious and blog out of duty, not joy. I'm also a wee bit tired of writing about Depression, ADHD, and my horrendous foot odor. I mean, you don't need to know that the neighbors have filed formal complaints with city hall or that somebody keeps stapling Odor-Eaters Durable Insoles to my front door, and yet I go on and on about it.

But I digress.

I mostly looked at the new year and wondered if I was happy plodding along as I was doing. It was as if I had started to cross a bridge and was stopped somewhere in the middle of it, walking in place furiously and getting no nearer to the other side than when I began. I wanted to blog more spontaneously. Have fun with it. Let my hair down so to speak. Unloosen the tie — plus other metaphoric imagery that explains how dull I had made blogging for myself by creating a backlog of entries stretching out into the next millenium, entries that I felt obligated to finish before tackling new ones.

I also feared I had become defined by Depression, ADHD, and Chronic Motor Tic Disorder. Was that all I was about? Did I want to be a blogger or an author? And why did I spend so much time on Twitter if I was too bored to blog but pined to write?

That's when I got this great idea for a detective series featuring a depressed blogger with ADHD who spends his days on Twitter solving socnet murder mysteries. I think it's gonna be a blockbuster.

In the meantime, I've deleted all my drafts and am starting the new year with a fresh slate. I can't wait to tell you what I've been doing this month with goal making for absentminded people or the progress (and setbacks) I've made in my fight against SAD.

As usual I live for your comments, so please let me know what you think. Do you have expectations for this blog? Need to see me write more about a subject like base jumping for nearsighted depressives? Now's the time to speak up. This year is well on its way, and I might just have an idea about which direction I want to head in this time.

Comments

Claire said…
Good to see you back at it again. I visit your blog for inspiration to get through hubby's bad days (which, by the way, are much fewer and further between at this point in time than in the last five years! Yahoo! Perhaps there IS light at the end of this very long tunnel). His latest cocktail includes a supplement called 5-HTP and Vitamin D, both suggested by the psychiatrist in addition to the med cocktail that wasn't working anyway. It seems to have started doing the trick well enough that he hasn't visited the darkest part of the pit in six months!!
January 23, 2009 9:31 PM
D.R. Cootey said…
That's wonderful news, Claire! I'm happy for both of you.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. It's always nice to hear from you.

~Douglas
January 23, 2009 10:40 PM
Cyaegha42 said…
It is indeed good to see you up and running again, sir. I've followed your work here for several weeks(I know, Johnny Come Lately), and have it to be most helpful, especially the insight into the character of Depression, and the indelible mark it leaves. I have a much milder form of it, but to me it seems like a hundred-tonne weight on my back.. I also have to give you a special thanks: Your blog, along with one other source, inspired me to start my own, dealing with the effect of long term drug use/abuse, and the emotional and psychological impact on the self, and friendships. Without your valuable information, your courage and insight, I most likely would have continued on lurking in the shadows, so I thank you sir. You do a job that is much appreciated, and I look forward to your new direction this year.

David(user handles are impersonal in personal matters)

Post Script - If you have any advice for a novice in this field, just look at my info, and e-mail me. It's always nice, and helpful to hear from a veteran of an endeavor such as this. Again, thanks, and keep up the good work!
January 24, 2009 4:39 AM
Anonymous said…
Hello Douglas,

I've been contemplating the start of my own ADHD blog for some time now.

Just found your site a moment ago while attempting to discover if any ADHD Bloggers exist in cyberspace.

Curiously, the word metaphoric appeared to me as metamorphic. I had an inspired moment of borderline OCD and had to read it a few times to decide which it was. I realize you aren't a rock and thus we return to metaphoric imagery.

I leave it to you.
January 28, 2009 12:22 PM
The Bumbles said…
Hmm - well I could see how blogging about depression could become depressing. But I imagine it would also be cathartic and unselfishly helpful to many others. I do think you are correct in that you should blog because you want to not because you feel obligated. Last time I checked no one is paying me to blog so therefore I get to set my own rules. Enjoy the clean slate.
January 29, 2009 2:39 PM
Soozcat said…
Just out of curiosity, have you ever done any BASE jumping?

I haven't. Too afraid I'd die with dirty underwear, I guess.
January 30, 2009 3:38 PM
Anonymous said…
after actually starting to work towards a job...life simply got more busy.

discounting the injury that got me here in da first place {smiles}

yes, i easily picture u as one of those ppl who get invited to cool parties...honest.

mebbe giving up TV might free up a bit of time. who knows.

AND, arent we all 'defined' by the knowledge ppl have of us?? irl, we are usually so much more complex.
February 08, 2009 12:29 AM
Anonymous said…
_on the cool party thing, i meant after ur kinda famous..
[[flashy smile]]
February 08, 2009 12:32 AM
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