A Good Stretch of the Legs

 

I have written and posted in this blog seven times this year:  five posts in January and two in February.  My last post was February 13^th and was about what snow days have become in this age of Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

At the start of March, my desire was to write and post ten to twenty posts.  It was totally doable and a reasonable goal.  Now in the last two lamb days of March, I am posting my first bloggy bit.

Is it something substantial?

No.

It is simply a stream of thought (not even close a stream of consciousness).  This is akin to a marathon runner taking a light jog after taking six weeks off from running.  This is simply a light workout, a good stretch of the legs so to speak.

Why did this writing drought occur in February and March?

It is hard to say.  Really?  Hard to say?  It is my low productivity, and I am not sure?  Well, that sounds silly.  It sounds a little preposterous to me as I type these words.  How can I not be sure?  It is comical.  A case could even be made for a first sign of senility in a fellow of my age.

So… what do I have to say for myself?

I am certain that there are ebbs and flow in my productivity over the years.  In the flow periods, I get a lot done.  In the valley of the ebbs, it takes all the energy and drive I can muster to get the very minimal done.  By minimal, I mean those tasks with absolute, must get it done, deadlines looming.  It is these ebbs and flows that had me intrigued with the short-lived fad biorhythms fad from the 1970s.  The problem with biorhythms is that are predictably periodic and, as far as I can recall, tied to the phases of the moon.  My ebbs and flow have variable durations.  They can be as low as a few days and as long as three or four moon cycles.

I am envious, at times, of those dynamos I see that are always on the go.  They run full blast through their workday knocking off items off their to-do lists.  I am only like that in flow periods.  I wonder if those dynamos I admire struggle with ebbs and flows.  Maybe they have them and power through them.  Maybe the amplitudes of the ebbs are just lesser than mine.  Maybe their struggles are the same as mine, but those folks are better at masking them but forging and maintaining an image of dynamism.  I definitely know people that are gifted at projecting the aura of dynamism versus their actually productivity.

In my case, another factor for my writing drought might be related to my knee replacement.  My right knee was replaced on January 8.  I had an excellent surgeon.  My recovery has progressed well and on the faster side.  I have embraced the physical therapy.  What might all this have to do with writing productivity.  Before the surgery, I did most of my writing in the evening.  In January, while at home recovering and then teaching online, I wrote those blog posts in the morning.  In February, I returned to my normal schedule but when it came time to write in the evenings, I was simply too weary to do so.  I am writing this little piece at 9 am in the morning.

I enjoyed this stretch of my writing legs which was more important than the actual topic.

Well, it is a blog about nothing.