As I was writing my 2015 Year in Review, I scrolled back through many old posts, not just from 2015 but further back. I'm amazed at how much I blogged years back, and so much more thoughtfully than now. Of course, much of this was when I was freelancing from home (and, frankly, barely working and thus barely surviving), before I went back to working full-time in 2006. Then once I started seeing D in 2009 and spending weekends in the city, it just became impossible to keep it up. My brain was fried with work, and I already spent too much time sitting at a computer during the week. I did begin to photograph more, but mostly posting on Flickr and sometimes on Facebook. I know many bemoan Facebook from taking people away from longer and more thoughtful blog writing, and surely that's the case for many, but it's mostly other circumstances that have necessitated channeling my congenitally limited energy supply elsewhere. And the smallish bits of time I spend on Facebook let me feel connected to people I would otherwise have sadly lost track of.
So I will certainly not say I expect to spend more time blogging in 2016. In fact, I have made no New Year's resolutions. Over the New Year's holiday, I suffered from much insomnia and sleep deprivation and so resolving to do anything more than get through the semi-waking hours semi-enjoying my vacation time was more than I could entertain. I did, and do, have some vague concept of letting myself off the hook a bit more this year and worrying a bit less about the judgement of others as I'm wont to do. It just saps too much energy, which, as I said, is already in finite supply and not likely to increase much anytime soon.
I do hope to move around a bit more - D gave me a Fitbit Charge wristband for Christmas, which encourages the achievement of a certain amount of steps and stairs and activity each day. I already know that sitting all day as I do at my job is not healthy, but tracking the numbers does have its motivational aspect. My Fitbit also has a sleep tracker, which is somewhat depressing in my current state - and I had to just take it off a couple of nights as I was all too aware of being awake well into the wee hours - but it does provide some interesting feedback when I have worn it. I'm hoping being back into a daily routine on workdays rather than at D's (let's face it, another person's snores and stirring about are a challenge when you're having sleep issues) will get me back on track with sleep, precious drug that it is.
Above - New Year's Eve fireworks from the lagoon in the Public Garden in Boston. These were the "family fireworks" at 7 pm, after which we returned to D's and had dinner (I'd made a Bolognese sauce earlier) and watched a movie on tv and then some New Year's Eve stuff until the ball dropped.
I've been back to work since Monday, and pretty busy already. Despite the lack of sufficient sleep over the holidays, I did get a welcome break from work and feel more ready to get back into it. If that's not enough, I also this week booked our summer vacation stay on the Cape, which cheers me no end and provides warming thoughts on these cold winter days.
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