To post or not to post?

I started writing this post after commenting on a blogging friend's post this morning, but it had really started forming in my mind last night when I was sorting through some pictures for my blog. I was wondering what I would write about today, what I should post. I had no recipe I considered post-worthy, no eye candy and I was also feeling a tad uninspired. The truth is, I wanted to be passed out in front of the TV, not sitting at a desk working. The kids were finally in bed and asleep and I felt like I was going through the motions of yet another daily chore.

Empty wash machine

Load wash machine

Empty dishwasher

Sort socks

Write names on 50 diapers for daycare

Edit pictures for blog

Wait, since when has my blog become a chore?

I love this blog, it is my newest born child. I nurture it, I think about it throughout the day and I look forward to spending time with it. It is my creative outlet, my space to be me and not somebody's mother or wife or colleague.

I think what happened is that I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. With the summer approaching quickly and the markets brimming with promise, filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables that we haven't seen in months, I feel like I should be cooking up a storm but I am not and this makes me feel frustrated. I feel like I never have time: time to make a decent meal, time to take a good picture, time to even get to the supermarket. I read about people who have cues of recipes to post and I feel like I am struggling to keep up and this dries up my creative juices.

Time is always the problem, it always has been. In the winter my blogging life was a rush to capture light. By the time I got home it was dark and the only meals I could photograph decently were the ones I made on the week end. Fine, I adjusted. I made a few good eats on Saturday and Sunday and wrote about them during the week. Now spring is here and I finally have the light (I know, that sounds like a sentence stolen from some Fantasy movie) but I never get home early enough to cook because playground season has started and we are often away on the week ends making even our weekly trip to the supermarket to stock up tricky.

Basically, what I am saying is that sometimes you have to stop, breathe and tell yourself to take it easy. Life is full of obligations and responsibilities and chores. Mine is about constantly rushing from one place to the next, feeling guilty at work because I have kids, feeling guilty with my kids because they are enrolled in each and every after-school and summer activity the school has to offer. So if it is Friday and I ain't got nothing to post or to tell the world, I won't post.

Because posting and blogging is supopsed to be fun, because there is always someone out there who has something interesting to say or bake if I don't, because posting is not my job and there are no deadlines (unless I choose them) and if I don't post for a week it is not the end of the world.

Sometimes you just need to sit back and recharge your batteries and follow the example of something as simple as my homemade vanilla extract. This baby is resting in a dark cool place and let me tell you, it is thriving.

Lesson learned.

Have a great weekend!