Sometimes all that’s required for adventure is to look up

Tonight, I sit at the computer feeling a bit lost for a topic.  It’s 9:37PM.  The clock is counting down to bedtime while I flounder.  I have no new photos to share.  I find myself wondering what compels me to write 500 words every night and take and process enough photos each week to accompany those words.

My topic tonight has revealed itself to me:  why do I blog?

Creating adventure out of cardboard and gravity

This is a question I have been asked by more than one person.  Some of my closest relatives have wondered what the appeal is.  It’s a question I ask myself from time to time.  The original intent was to use the blog as a way to keep family and friends up-to-date on our new adventures as we moved away from the place I’d spent the vast majority of my life and into parts unknown.

But then, several things happened.  First, I made the decision to post every day.  My main goal was to develop a habit of writing.  After all, to be a writer, there’s only one thing you have to do:  write.

Hiking where there are great views is always a satisfying adventure

But, let’s face it, not too many of us have exciting things to write about every day.  For the first six months we were in Chattanooga, we were treating our stay here like we were on a vacation every weekend–seeing and doing whatever there was to see and do within a couple hours drive.  That gave me material to string out throughout the week.

Next, my husband started a business in Chattanooga.  Not just a business, but a business requiring lots of heavy equipment that occupies a good-sized workshop.  Not exactly mobile.

This guy is always on an adventure–but it’s always the same one

It’s funny how the knowledge that we had years to get to see the area vs months changed the weekend vacation attitude to one of “we’re at home.”  Suddenly, it’s not the top priority to go hike a new trail every weekend or hang glide off a mountain or learn to kayak in white water.  Now, we are accumulating the “some day” list of things we want to see and do similar to what we had before we moved here.

The idea of having an adventure to write about every day has gone out the window, yet the habit of writing seems to have stuck.

Taken a year ago, I realize how even spring is an adventure–no blooms on this hillside yet this year

In parallel to these changes to our life plan, I got more and more excited about practicing photography.  I spent increasingly more time learning about the technical aspects of photography and more and more time shooting.  Having a “deadline” and a place to publish those photos helps me prioritize my time so that I make time to practice.

I feel more accountable somehow because I have a small, much appreciated, group of followers who click the “like” button.  This accountability helps me make time to do something I enjoy.  It seems counter-intuitive, but it works for me.

Maybe the answer is as simple as I like it.

The moon always makes me feel adventurous