Six months into 2019 and I am happy that I didn’t make any New Year resolutions this year. Why? Because I wouldn’t have been able to keep up. Generally, every year my resolutions are pertaining to the blog and I have been very lazy this year. I am taking everything slow.
Not according to the plan
At the beginning of the year, I felt enthusiastic and planned to write 3 blog posts weekly. I couldn’t keep up. Suddenly it felt like a task due to the meticulous planning. Until now I would write with pleasure, suddenly it became daunting to keep up with writing. I was also at the loss of ideas. In these 6 months, March was the only fruitful months in terms of writing. Thanks to the Festival Of Words. Otherwise, there has been a lull. That’s when I even wrote What Are The Ways To Beat The Writer’s Block, but couldn’t follow my own advice. Talk of, ‘Practice before you preach’!
Reading Challenge
When 2019 began, I decided I will read more this year and took up the Write Tribe reading challenge but have not been able to read as much. Though I don’t have a huge target so I hope to achieve it by year end but yes, I am lagging way behind as of now.
Social Media
Another decision that I had made this year to be more active on Instagram and grow my following. But being constantly on social media and sharing every small detail became overwhelming for me. I found it extremely difficult to click pictures especially for posting on Instagram. I found that I was not being my true self. Being real and relevant to social media suddenly became a farce. The irony isn’t it!
Top it up with challenges on a personal front
Last one month has been a month of facing many personal challenges. That again became a deterrent and I could not concentrate on writing. I also took a break for a month from writing for My Paper. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to create quality content for Children.
Don’t know what I am talking about, Read about My Paper- A Newspaper For children.
Zombie Blog Hop
The discussion to revive zombie blogs on Write Tribe what’s app group reminded me of the Word of the year that I choose for myself – Self Belief. Once again, my favourite Write Tribe people came to my aid. And here I am participating in the blog hop, hoping that this post gives me an impetus to keep up with my plan of writing 3 blog posts weekly beginning today. And that I do it with interest and do not consider it to be a task at hand.
How’s your 2019 shaping up? Do let me know. Also, read other blog posts by my blogger friends.
I received this tag from Shilpa and I am passing this on to Vinitha. 24 bloggers have got together to celebrate six months of 2019 from June 17-19. In their unique ways, they will share what the last six months mean to them. In these 24 posts, you will find a lot of joy and hope. Not to forget, some humour and stories too. So don’t forget to read these all and share some love.
Had to edit the blog post as I have to mention few achievements of Aesha’s Musings too because those too happened in the first Six months of 2019.
Aesha’s Musings got featured as One of the Top Lifestyle blogs on FeedSpot . Yay!!
Along with being on the Directory of Top Indian Blogs for the third consecutive year.
So do keep coming back to read more on Aesha’s Musings because that is what motivates me to write quality, relatable content for my readers.
Hey Aesha, love you yaar. Take it easy. It is always better to listen to your heart. When things are not falling into place, it is wise to leave them at the moment.
Wish you luck for the coming years.
Thanks Geethica
I think you are focusing on the best thing that will work for you right now—’Self-Belief’! Believe me, we are all at different stages in our lives when our resolutions don’t simply depend on our resolves alone. There are scores of other related factors on which our lives run. I’m in the same boat as you with regard to blogging, reading and social media! I’ve decided blogging for myself and only when I am up for it, works best for me. I loved your honest-to-the-core post for the #ZombieBlogHop. Hugs and best wishes for the rest of 2019 so you may be blessed with all that you’ve been longing for, Aesha.
Thanks a lot Esha.
Taking it as you like is the way to go. Social media us a boon but sometimes it can make you feel lost. Writing is an art to enjoy and I hope you continue to write and enjoy the process.
Thanks Nikita
Take it slow. The point of blogging is enjoying the writing part. If there are targets and deadlines, it becomes tough. For me, 2 posts a week is doable. Happy that this zombiebloghop inspired many of us to write.
Samw boat in 2019.Life is getting hectic and social media is my pet peeve too especially Inata.Twitter is something I like because thers no pressure to look good ?
Hugs, Aesha. Please know that I am a fellow traveler in your boat. I bet many are!
I loved your sincere and honest heart pouring about the social media. I too strongly believe that SM is a two edged sword and does more harm than good.
Wishing you a peaceful and progressive year ahead.
I feel your pain, Aesha. I fell off the resolution wagon within a week of starting 2019. Now, I’m just going along with whatever’s happening, trying to achieve tiny milestones, along the way.
It is perfectly okay to take a break and go slow in life because it is always not possible to go full throttle. Social media tends to get exhaustive because it is a mammoth which needs to be fed constantly and it is never enough. It is wonderful that you were able to take part in this blog hop and wrote from your heart. Writing from the heart always opens up the possibilities.
Rarely do plans come to fruition. We plan one thing and the exact opposite happens. Best to just go with the flow and know that if we stop working on one thing, Life will not come to an end! 😛 Especially, social media–we tend to get carried away, spend all our time on it and then feel overwhelmed by it all. It’s best to give it only a wee bit of attention and focus on what we can do, instead of what we must do. This is what I have learned in the past six months. 🙂
Yes, it’s better not to over think and just go with the flow. I agree. Oh yes, you are right about social media too. I have stopped bothering about insta now. I have made peace with it and also found my purpose of being on social media.
Aesha, if you realized, you have written this piece because you wanted to share your thoughts and you did it without considering it a task. And look what happened, there are so many of us who feel exactly the same way you do. Sometimes I don’t put up what I write because it’s all about how disappointed I am with myself. But pouring out does help. We can try the other way round like what Parul did – remember? ’25 things I loved…’, I started writing down the best things that are happening to me every day, actually every time I feel good and I’m putting it down and I’m going back to read through what I’ve written at the end of the day. You won’t believe how positive I feel. You may want to try it too. Thank you Parul, I just loved your idea.
That’s so true. You know what I made a journal to wrote positive affirmations and then when things got tough on the family front, I stopped writing. But Parul’s post was an eye-opener and I did start writing again.
Thanks for your valuable suggestion and visiting my blog.
I too didn’t make any resolutions for this year because I knew that I’d have enough on my plate and sticking to resolutions would be difficult. I feel it is okay to go with the flow sometimes.
Indeed Reema. Thanks dear.
Pingback: Six months into 2019... ~ Reflections ~ Vinitha Dileep
We all go through these phases where we plan meticulously and then lose the momentum to keep it going. Why don’t you try to blog once a week to start with. When you get consistent for a month or so then you can increase number of posts. I can’t do three posts weekly. I am trying to blog one post a week on both my blogs but I fail many weeks. But it’s okay. We have to cut ourselves some slack. I am not focusing on instagram any more, it’s too much stressful for me. Writing, blogging or social media presence, all of these we should do for the pleasure first, at least for me that’s when I feel happy and do my best, otherwise it’s a chore. 🙂
Happy to see that this bloghop is helping us all. 🙂
That’s a great idea. I think I have to start slow. I can write one post weekly, on days I dont feel like it, I wont I guess. That will not make it a chore. I want to enjoy the process and not look always for results. Thanks a lot for visiting. This bloghop is certainly helping all of us.
I think we all go through these months, sometimes years, when things don’t go to plan. Just hang in there – things tend to become much clearer after such phases.
Thank you. I have got a lot of strength and motivation after sharing on the blog.
I think so, thanks a lot for visiting. You are right, I will surely get over with this phase soon.
I also had so many plans for 2019, be it consistent blogging or Instagram. But in vain. But here’s hoping for a better latter half. Cheers
Yes, best wishes to you also Shalini. And thanks a lot for visiting
Hugs to you. We are all in the same boat. If we weren’t this awaken the zombie blog challenge would not have happened. I too tried being organised about my writing and hated it. I was going through all my blog posts from the time I started blogging and realised that when I just wrote for myself without thinking about likes and comments I wrote so much more and so much better. So let’s resurrect our blogs and have fun doing it!
Yes Sunita. I am so glad I found like-minded bloggers on Write Tribe. Thanks for the motivation.
Aesha, good to be here and read about your last six months. You know I also don’t maje resolutions. I don’t believe in them. We all go through lull phases and one thing I have learnt is to never forget who am I writing for. That takes away a lot of pressure. So relax and don’t let blogging become a chore!
Good luck with reading and writing! See you around. Hugs!
Thanks a lot Parul. Thankfully this blog hop helped me get back to writing.
I was reading this post and nodding my head in agreement. I could relate to each and everything. Instagram became so overwhelming for me that I have almost given up posting there. This is a beautiful and honest post Aesha.
Thanks Balaka.
Aah! We are in the same boat. I have not been blogging regularly too. Hopefully this blog-hop will change that! Glad that you will be able to ace your reading challenge for the year. I am lagging a bit behind, but I am hoping to catch up on my reading.Oh, Instagram can be exhausting but I like being there. LOL 😀
Hope you get back to creating content for My Paper and here’s wishing that the next 6 months of 2019 are enriching and satisfying for you! Cheers!
Thanks Shilpa. With so many best wishes I am sure I will get back to writing regularly. I am glad I participated in this blog hop
Don’t beat yourself about the things you haven’t done. Life is meant to be lived spontaneously, with joy and with intent. Sometimes unplanned things happen but then that has its own beauty doesn’t it? As for Social Media – don’t bother with it. I think it is only meant for the truly young who are not ‘settled’ as the older generation would say.
That is true. I am feeling much better now after writing today. Thanks a lot for your support.
I’m so happy that you are taking part in this blog hop. I think we all go through a lull. We can come back being clearer and more authentic.
About Instagram, I agree. It gets exhausting. I too have decided to focus on my blogs rather than spending too much time on Social Media.
Hugs, Aesha. I hope the next six months are filled with self-belief. I believe in you. ?
Thanks a ton Corinne. I have decided the same. I will do what I enjoy and not because someone else is doing it.
I enjoy writing too but for days on end, writing becomes a chore because life itself becomes a chore- to go from day to day is a burden. I came to realise, when I am happy, I can write, when I am sad, though I can write, I tend to re-read and edit a lot more. When I am happy, I am honest; when I am sad, a veil comes between me and my writing and I try to hide things.
A writer’s block is a real thing – glad you conquered it.
Best Wishes,
Susie
Thanks Susie. I agree with you. I am also honest in my writing when I am happy and tend to hide things when sad. I think this happens to most of us. I am happy that my tribe got me out of the writer’s block.