Adjust & Adapt
A few days ago, Tim called out and I caught the joy in his voice. We stood at the window and watched the little birds who had found our feeders in the snow. A blue tit, a robin and a blackbird flitted and fed, as a sparrow on the ground ate the crumbs. It was wonderful. We have finally found a place in the garden where they feel comfortable, and with the feeders resting in the hedge, they can take shelter too.
Each new year, we are encouraged to set goals and transform, but Tim and I find this approach tiring. It fosters a feeling that things are not good enough, just as they are. Life is always in flux, and surely, it's about how we adjust and adapt.
We can get lost in constant 'busyness' and forget to pause and rest.
We all need purpose and awareness of the activities that bring us joy. One of mine is writing and I am blessed that my work involves a lot of it. I love writing so much, that I also choose to write in my spare time. Over fifteen years ago, I found expression through my blog and it gifted links to like-minded souls that continue to this day. I am so grateful to Tim for suggesting I work as a funeral celebrant and for the like-minded souls that I have discovered in our global writing village.
Technology by its very nature is also in a state of flux and my blog has had several incarnations. I am mindful not to make change for change's sake, as many of you will know the effort it takes to transfer our writing and work to a new platform, but sometimes we have to adjust and adapt to a new setting.
Many platforms are hyped through marketing and they fall short on delivery, and with regular software updates, complications arise. Writers are their own 'tech team' and we struggle to find the time to explore solutions and work through issues. It all adds to the pressure.
A year ago, I created a website as a home for my celebrancy work and writing and have tried to adjust and adapt to running it. I went with a well-known website provider and used their website builder software. I immediately ran into issues between what they term as members and subscribers. It was unnecessarily complicated and remains unresolved, and any additional applications were expensive and I found myself needing them.
Last year, I also chose to leave all my social media accounts, and I haven't missed any of them. I could not justify the time lost going down these online spirals. As writers, we are encouraged to be on them to promote our work and I am not convinced this is true or helpful.
A decision is made of many strands weaving together, but I have found that it's one event that usually drives a change. The website company have decided to increase their annual plan fees and the rise is over 12.5%, which is unacceptable, so I began looking for an alternative.
I have been following Lorna Bevan and Elizabeth Gilbert for many years and they have both migrated to the Substack platform. I am going to follow their lead, as I can comfortably write there and also add audio and video files. I will be placing my eBooks and courses behind a paywall, and branching out into audio files. I hope it is as uncomplicated as it looks and will be migrating my work across over the next two weeks.
I am so grateful to those of you who take the time to read and comment and to my faithful subscribers. You are all special people. I will be transferring my domain name, so it will be a seamless transition and my weekly posts will have a new layout.
Like the little birds in our garden, I hope to have found a new place to create and write, and I remain a triumph of hope over experience! ✨