Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The End of NaBloPoMo, Failure, and Success

Well, so much for NaBloPoMo. Seven whole days without a post? Oops. But, I'm okay with this failure. Even with the week off, I think I've posted more this month than the rest of the whole year combined; so, not a complete failure.

Thanksgiving is an obvious excuse. Families, feasts, food comas... I absolutely love that holiday. Thanksgiving means pie-baking time, and I go a little crazy each year. Last year I baked seven pies for that weekend. This year was a little less intense - only three this time - but superior in appearance and taste.


The one on the left is a classic apple pie, with the Greek "pi" cutout. It was Eric's idea, and a big hit with everyone. The middle is a pecan pie, and the one on the right is a frozen peanut butter chocolate pie- kind of like a giant Reese's.

In addition to the holiday, my second excuse for not writing is that I've been reading some dearly missed fiction. A couple Harry Potter books and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, as well as an Advent devotional, Watch for the Light, and As Silver Refined by Kay Arthur- a study I've been itching to read for months. I'm working on a whole post consisting of what I've been learning from them (minus Harry Potter) and how they are all fitting together so beautifully.

And finally, I've been just overwhelmed and exhausted by the barrage of commercials and consumerism that inevitably follows Thanksgiving. I didn't even participate in Black Friday, and it completely wiped me out. Now, normally, I don't have to put up with TV commercials. Since we have Netflix Instant on our Wii and no cable or satellite, that's all we watch besides football. But since it's football season, I now have to endure commercials. They exhaust, disgust, and anger me. The constant, "I want it and I want it now," that's packaged and presented as the good, the normal, the right way to act is too much for me. All the Black Friday ads and the pervasive idea that "we must have all the shiny new things no matter what" just completely takes away the magic and mystery of Christmas.

I felt this not only from TV, but also in my email inbox (with hundreds of sales and deals from Victoria's Secret, Old Navy, Amazon, Threadless, Mod Cloth, etc., etc., etc...), on Facebook, on several blogs I follow. So I unplugged. I just didn't get on the internet; or if I did, I didn't last very long before the exhaustion kicked in.

It was lovely, it was less stressful, it was a welcome break. Carving out a safe place in my recliner under a blanket, with a cup of sugar cookie flavored tea and a good book totally beat the pressure to update my blog again, and again, and again. I'm content with that decision, and the consequence.

As November comes to a close, I'm thankful for the push from Courtney, and everyone's encouragement with the NaBloPoMo challenge. And I've developed the habit of blogging more consistently, and hopefully more clearly. Here's to keeping on!

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