I received two emails last week from readers who blog, asking me how I have managed to keep my blog alive for three years, where I get ideas from for posts, and how I manage to publish at least two posts a day. They were feeling blog fatigue and running out of ideas. I think that can happen to anyone.
I have thought about this for a while now and I think it is down to just one thing. I am very curious. I was so curious that when I was four years old, my father (who was tired of my endless ‘why daddy why’ questions) taught me to read and soon after gave me my first dictionary and encyclopaedia.
As a journalist this curiosity really helped me because I could write stories about anything. Things most people found boring interested me and I was always looking for new things to explore.
So I get my ideas from articles I read, things I see, useless facts and figures. My brain is always flitting like a butterfly from one thing to the next.
My students often comment on the wide variety of things we do in class and say it means they never get bored and learn a lot of new things. My blog, I guess, is an extension of that.
I often do not write long articles – just short thoughts. And anything goes. I make notes of topics for articles as they pop into my head and over weekends I write quite a few articles and schedule them in advance. I work between 2 weeks and a month in advance. So that means that I have something written even for those days I am too busy or not feeling inspired.
Yes, it comes in handy to have an inquisitive mind and a good memory. However, unlike you I am 5’91/2″. I was interested in your height, mentioned on you blog, because you look tall. I suppose it’s because you are in good proportion. By the way, I am loving your blog.
I am glad you like it – I love writing it.
I have put on a bit of weight since I wrote that article but am (hopefully) still the same height until shrinkage sets in, if it has not already.
I shan’t mind, if I shrink as I age. I get tired of being the tallest woman in my age group. It seems younger women are tall than my generation. My friend’s granddaughter is 6 foot. I think a little more weight in the second half of life is natural. The metabolism tends to slow and extra exercise stops keeping a few pounds off. However, the up side is that at least a little weight seems to counteract that scaggy look some older women get.
I am 68 and have a brother who is 2 years and eight months younger. When he was born my grandfather thought I needed distracting from the new baby, so taught me to read and allowed me to read anything in his library of mainly classics. As a result I was, like you, an early reader and he encouraged me to find answers to my incessant questions, by looking them up. He also never refused to answer or help me find an answer. I think this encourages curiosity and imagination in pre-schoolers and gives them a flying start. Like you I am interested in many subjects and still “study” new subjects. In retirement I have learnt from a friend, a retired professor of botany and have learnt a new, to me, musical instruments, the bassoon and bass recorder. So although I do not blog, I do have a yen to pursue lifetime learning. My filofax and iPad a full of lists of things to look up, music to listen to, books to read and notes on subjects which I am researching and lectures on my pet subjects that I wish to attend at our local museum. My hubby reckons it is what keeps me contented, involved and healthy.
Wow thanks for that Claire – we certainly do sound alike. My family always wants me on their team for trivial pursuit as I know about the craziest subjects!