I turned 50 earlier this month I think for the last 12 months it had been building in my head as mountain of well I don’t know what but the main thing is maybe a feel of where the next years are going go it is a changing of guard so to speak exiting one decade to the next but this felt as though the seesaw of life had tipped towards the later part. But it is also a feeling of being lost in myself and it isn’t to these last few days I am finally thinking straight I have been of work for a number of weeks with a lot of stress and other things but this is starting to ease. Anyway drifting here and there the fact is my blog means a lot to me and part of my drifting the last few years have been feeling lost as a blogger and also on things like twitter sometimes I wish I could turn back and go back to the early days of the blog when I read more on a whim and also felt less on a hamster wheel of life. Lizzy siddal has moved on to a new blog but I don’t think I need to do that I still have space on this blog for content. I am read more than I ever had but not blogging as many reviews, now this for years has stressed me out for years (Why the hell, I do a job that most people couldn’t do Amanda says I overthink thinks and being my fathers son my dad is engineer and has an engineer mind which I have inherited although I am not engineer I over analysis my whole life anyway this is one of the things I am working on) So hell I don’t review every book I read this is due to my reviews being longer than they used to be twice the length they were 5 years ago and I don’t have more time so double the length of review only half the reviews I aimed for 100 this year but I think if I review 80 plus books I am doing well. From tomorrow onwards I’m taking a more relaxed approach to my blogging also be accepting less review copies I get contact less these days so that isn’t a hardship and will get me off the hamster wheel of feeling I have to review books and also I feel I want read more from my TBR. The other changes is to vlog a little I’m still not sure what this content will be but I am getting a new camera which I want to record Amanda and I travels it also the pics for the blog will be from the camera make them more eyecatching. Anyway this turning 50 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be I am now looking forward to the decade ahead and also hopefully another ten years of winstonsdad. I think I will do more chatty post like this like the booker diaries series I have start for this years booker readings. I just buzz about books and often feel I have lost my voice just as I have found it in writing how often I said just the bare minimum about a book on twitter then gone I wish I said more if its not bookish twitter its podcast I listen to I love lots. But this also at times draws on my reading time it was listen to the daily stoic the other day when he was talking with Thomas Chatteron Williams about the rabbit hole that is social media also they hit nail on the head about how it can make you feel so I feel I’ll maybe retweet less chat a bit more and generally spend less time on twitter. How did turning 50 or 40 or 30 or whatever milestone effect you do you view it as a changing point do you often feel lost in this world of social media losing your own voice sometimes then just taking time and remember what is important to you and that is Amanda and my family , my job and then books and reading it is a large part of my as a person. I think Mookse and the gripes hit on the head my big problem is I haven’t got anyway much to chat to in the real world about books I have a couple friends that are bookish but as any one that has meet me at times I can be very passionate about books translation and reading. But then I feel I lost my online voice as well this is just me overthink which I am doing less off. Anyway outside this we made a small step towards our first home last week as we hope to get our first home thanks to family a new build next year with all luck so we are busy looking at a few new bits for the house I will have a bigger room for may books. I hope to return to work soon as I love my job but had just needed a break. I will also now be taking a few days off from here I will return Tues so for the ramble just want say I am looking for to my 50s and talking about books more and more
All the best for your plans for the future. Remember the blog is for you, not for those who read it then get busy with their lives. Do what you love not what you expect others to love. Happy Birthday. BTW I went through these similar kinds of thoughts a couple of years ago when I turned 70!!!
That’s very good advice, Pam. Be with the ones you love, do what you love, and everything else will take care of itself, I reckon.
I’m interested in what you say about a travel blog (vlog?) I love my travel blog though hardly anybody else ever reads it. It’s not fancy, just photos and text about my thoughts at the time, but it brings back great memories of my travels and it brings me great pleasure.
I think that the reason memories also something Amanda and I can do together we don’t go too far but we love the peaks and going here and there
But don’t forget, that many of your readers have never been to the UK and so just as my posts about my local Australian travels are interesting to people who’ve never been here, yours from ‘not too far’ are interesting to us.
Vlogging is video-blogging, Lisa. There’s a whole world of it on YouTube 😊
I know what it is. I even watched one once. It might have been you talking to someone…
But how it’s done, I have no idea.
Ah, that would have been BookTube with Simon Savidge.
Yes, that’s it.
Thanks pleased know not only mine to have anxiety with milestone birthdays
Happy birthday, Stu 🥳 I turned 50 a couple of years ago… I didn’t really do much to celebrate because I had just repatriated after 20 years in the UK and there was a lot of other stuff happening! Trying to find a job, a place to live etc.
I stopped tweeting at Christmas. I deleted the app off my phone. I occasionally log in on my laptop but I feel so much better not being on there. I was doing too much doomscrolling and it wasn’t good for my mental health. I only use Instagram these days as I have always loved photography.
I can’t really listen to podcasts and I don’t watch vloggers because that’s time spent away from reading, but good luck with your vlogging plans.
Thanks I am stepping back of twitter a bit the vlog is only going be a small side project more just something to try I do
Like instagram some creative photos on there
I don’t feel you are overthinking the question Stu. It’s a good idea to pause from time to time and think about what makes you happy, what you’d like to change.
As others have said, do what you love and what makes you happy. Ask yourself thst question about all your activities. If the answer to the question: “do I love doing this? does it make me happy?” is. NO then that’s your cue to stop or reduce.
Happy birthday Stu! Do what suits you best, remember that’s you’re only as old as you feel and enjoy what you do!!
Happy 50th, Stu, and hope you find the right balance and mix that suits you. (Not that I have yet.) I also love blogging and tweeting about books because I don’t often have those kind of friends in real life with whom I could share those conversations. But at times it all becomes too much.
Happy Birthday to you! I stress about blogging too and tell myself I’m being silly (but then carry on!!)
Happy birthday! I turned 40 in February and definitely had some mini-panic attacks about it, but am enjoying it and, like you, am trying to dial back on Twitter and the “shoulds”—I should read this or that or blog about xyz. Trying to make time for pure pleasure reading!