Seven. That's the number of posts I managed last year. Pretty pathetic, no?
There's no dramatic excuse. I didn't break an arm and find myself unable to type. Or blow up my computer. Or drop my camera off a cliff. Nothing dramatic. I just found that I wanted to spend my time doing other things. Stop sniggering at the back - you know who you are - yes, I fell prey to the lure of a different hobby. For the whole of the past year, I have been a tennis court traitor to blogging.
Today, there was something (I forget exactly where I read it) saying that having a hobby that you love to do has far more impact on your happiness than material wealth. Ain't that the truth? And it occurred to me that if one hobby was good, two would be undoubtably better.
The other thing is, I scared myself a little bit. Over the Christmas break I didn't play tennis for a whole week. Seven long days. And I was like a polar bear in a bad zoo. Pacing, restless, moody. It wasn't fun. At the end of it, hubby begged me to book a court and got out of bed with me at stupid o'clock just so I could hit some balls at him and calm down. I think I might be a little over-invested.
Now, tennis is great - I love it. Since I didn't pick up a racquet until I was in my forties, I feel like I have a lot of time to make up. I am serious about improving - I even wrote out my tennis goals for 2016. And shared them with my coach today - now that was a scary thing - I am slightly in awe of my coach (understatement of the century). And there was something very exposing about showing them to someone else.
And I remembered feeling the same about blogging when I began - the terror that came from opening up my thoughts to the ether. Vulnerable. But over ten years of doing it (yes, it will be a whole decade in April), I slowly came to realise the strength to be gained from capturing my own life on the page and the fun and companionship and laughs that it has brought.
And if I fall over and break my ankle and can't play, my family are going to disown me if I don't have any other outlets. So yes, the tennis journal isn't going anywhere, but maybe there's space to be here too. Not to mention the fact that I just got billed my Typepad fees and if I calculate the cost per post for last year, it makes me feel rather silly.
Many hobbies, much happiness. Sounds like a good mantra, no?
