Saturday 20 December 2014

Blogging is Hard

You know what?  Blogging is hard.

Not hard like curing cancer, or stopping your two year old from drinking the bath water, but still it's challenging.

I've started this blog more times than I care to count and reworked it a couple of times - each time the gaps between posts seem to be longer than anticipated.  That's all fine and dandy for a personal diary, but its not exactly the kind of regular work that draws a crowd or keeps life interesting.  Its not like I was out of town, or sick.  I didn't have writers block or technical issues.  It's just that like all things, making a consistent effort to blog takes focus and deliberate action.

So - what to do about it?  I know that consistent effort is the key to successfully connecting with folks and to growing an audience.  I've also been told that it takes 28 days to form a habit.  So, in the interest of making this blog habit-forming, I am going to try to post regularly for a period of time to get myself in the groove.  If all goes well you will see posts from me at a rate of 2-3 per week for the next little while.

What about you reader(s)?  Any tips or pointers for staying consistent?

Update 30Apr2015: I've confirmed it - blogging is hard...and I failed at my goal of posting more often.  Oh well there's always tomorrow.

Monday 15 December 2014

Secrets

Some secrets are necessary, not that it gets easier knowing that, but it is true.

For the past two years J. and I have been dreaming about it the same way a child dreams of Christmas - it's that ethereal ideal that seems to be just out of reach and takes eons to arrive.  To compound our agony our plans have had to remain at least partially secret.

You see, I'm still working and to suggest that I have plans to leave could significantly impact the relationship we've got.  I don't know many employers who reward anything less than complete loyalty, so I labour on and try not to discuss my plans.  But man, is it hard.

This is the single biggest decision that J. and I have made in our time together.  Bigger than buying a house, bigger than having children.  It's exciting, scary and huge - and I can't talk about it with the people I spend all day around.  Good thing I don't get invited to many surprise parties.

For now though I'll continue keeping quiet and biding my time.  Once we are closer to leaving I'll be able to let the cat out of the bag but until then it's business as usual.  I'd rather be safe and secure than share the dream too soon.

What about you?  Would you keep quiet or shout it from the rooftops?

Sunday 14 December 2014

Big Decision

You know those moments in your life when you take a step back and realize that you're making a decision that is momentous?  I mean, truly momentous?  Sometimes they come after long reflection, sometimes they are driven by careful planning and sometimes they arrive like a bolt out of the blue, driven by events outside of your control.

In those moments, you gain a sense of control over your life and future that is liberating and invigorating.

We had one of those moments a little over a two years ago.  The company I work for had begun a series of layoffs, something that is not unusual in many industries but completely unheard of in my company.  In 35 years we had never been through the same degree of change in resources and organization.  With the realization that  no matter how hard I worked or how well I performed, my job was not safe we made a decision that we believe will change our lives.

Plan B is what we called it when we were discussing our options.

The journey towards our goal and life after will form the backbone of this blog.  I intend to document this journey of personal discovery as J. and I take control of our lives, hopefully enriching them and the lives of our children.  It's exciting and kind of scary, we expect it to impact us in ways we can't imagine and we only hope that the impact is positive for us and our children.

The decision?  Some call it crazy (more on that in a future post) but we've decided at some time in the near future to exit the rat race, buy a boat and sail the world.

Welcome to SV Maple

Welcome to SV Maple.  Subscribe to follow this blog and its regular updates as one family takes a journey towards something different...