This Is Tradition
In which The Writer comes to accept that some things never change and warns that things are about to get very busy up in here
In a desperate attempt to get myself to write a bit more many moons ago and inspired by a Carrie Hope Fletcher YouTube series I decided to start a little writing project for myself on my other blog.
Letters to Autumn.
The main reason for it was to encourage myself to sit down every day and attempt to get something written. It never had to be anything particularly long, I released myself from the shackles of making sure that it was even particularly good. It just had to be something that I did every day for the month of October.
It worked that first year and when October came around the following year I found myself almost compelled to give it a shot again. And again. And again.
For five years every October I have found myself writing to the mythical creature that is Autumn. Over the last couple of years, the letters became more sporadic as I found that other things were getting in the way and I letting myself succumb to the mistress that inspiration. I still went into every month with the idea of committing to 31 posts in the month, but last year I think I managed around half.
Granted last year we were still deep in the clutches of a global pandemic and it was a miracle that I was doing anything really, but with that feeble attempt at the whole project, I felt like it had come to a natural end.
Cue the end of August, with its cloudy days and oddly cold wind chill that meant that it almost felt like winter coat weather even though it was supposed to be summer and I found myself just waiting for September to kick in when I would feel less compelled to complain about the autumnal weather and would start truly thriving in the fact that the majority of my wardrobe (which is jumpers) could come out to play and it didn’t feel a little soul-destroying. And as I found myself waiting for that I also found myself thinking about something that had almost become somewhat of a tradition for myself.
It still is a great way for me to actually sit and write each day, and even though I have been better at that than ever this year, there is still something oddly comforting about the fact that for a month everything is focused on something. And the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it wasn’t something that I really wanted to say goodbye to, mostly because last year’s attempt was not a good showing and if it was going to come to an end I would want it to end on a high.
When I knew deep down that I wanted to make the 31 day commitment for the 6th year in a row I then had to think long and hard about where I wanted to put it. The natural place would be the blog, but my plans for that little space on the internet have morphed and it no longer felt right in that way, so that left but one other place.
So, yes, be prepared for me to hit your inbox every day for the whole of October with my nonsense.
As is also tradition, I have the first two weeks of the month off, and that works as both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I have all this extra time that isn’t absorbed by the day job, on the other hand, I just lose any sort of discipline when my time isn’t absorbed by the day job. So it will be fun. For me, maybe for you, hard to say. You may very well be sick of me come the end of the first week.
But I’m gonna stick it out for the whole month.
Just 31 days of my musings and bullshit.
I’ll still do a “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” check-in each Thursday just to remind myself of where I actually am in the week, but I have also been released from the pressure of having to title something because even if I only do it once a week, I am still just not very good at it.
October starts tomorrow, buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride (if you think that I didn’t type that phrase and immediately hear it in Lenny Henry’s voice, you’re wrong).
Jumpin’ Jumpin’
What I’m reading - I finished Rooney’s book, I don’t really know how I feel about it. But I’ll process those thoughts somewhere else. What I am actually currently reading it is The Year of The Witching (an affiliate link), which is supposed to a bit a little bit of a horror book, but you know it’s something different. And also, it’s a book that I could wrap up in a week, which is what I needed.
What I’m watching - I had very little interest in the reboot of Gossip Girl, mostly because I did my time with it and I still feel some kind of way about the fact that Dan Humphries of all people turned out to be the culprit and so I didn’t really see myself wanting to engage with it again. But then I watched the trailer and I heard the comforting and familiar voice of Kirsten Bell moving around the phrase ‘xoxo, Gossip Girl’ and somehow I knew that I would end up watching it at some point. And here we are. I have viewed it, it took the majority of the first episode for me to even feel like I remotely cared, but something hooked me and now I wait for the next block of 6 episodes to watch…
What I’m listening to - Lil Nas X is the moment and the Montero album has no skips. Like 0. It also takes you through a broad spectrum of feelings because you start wanting to live your best life in a club and you end feeling a little bit moody and sad.
Title Inspiration - The Tradition, Halsey - I’ll be honest, I used it mostly to direct you to the masterpiece that is this song (that piano) and I also ummed and ahhed about trivialising what is actually quite a powerful song, but here we are. Go forth and listen to the song.