It’s funny. I took an extra week off from blogging just because–because I didn’t feel like it, I guess. As soon as I got started again, I thought, Hey, this is fun! In the past two days, at least a dozen possible blog topics have come to mind. No, I haven’t written them down, so, yes, I will forget them. Probably already have.

The fact is, I like journaling. I enjoyed in it eleventh grade when Mr. Clark made us do it in English class. He was years ahead of NaNoWriMo, believing in the benefits of quantity regardless of quality. He counted the number of pages we wrote, but didn’t read them, allowing us to write about anything or nothing at all. I still have that journal.

I journaled through all our years of caretaking and on long trips. In part, I wanted the record for my own benefit, but I also shared the journals with family.

When I’m stuck on a story, I journal, either as myself, working around and eventually through the problem, or as the character.

I brainstorm on paper.

Someone once said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it.” That could have been me. Putting something in words–an experience, a memory, a problem–forces me to think through it, to define it in words. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m thinking or feeling until I’m forced to give it words.

All this to say it’s good to be blogging again!