It’s really amazing how something as simple as reading can get your creative juices and processes flowing again. During my blogging drought, I’d also all but totally stopped reading everything in my RSS reader. Over 1,000 new posts greeted me tonight when I revved it up again.

As I slowly dug my way out of this huge hole I’ve managed to slip into, I realized how much I was looking forward to writing. After just 20 minutes of reading some of my favorite blogs, I had all sorts of ideas for my own flooding out into OneNote (my new choice for random notes and blogging, BTW).

I’m not sure which left first, the chicken or the egg (writing or reading), but I’m glad they came back together, and I hope to make a full return to the blogosphere very very soon.

In the meantime, I would like to link you all to a post I just read by Wil Wheaton, which hits oddly close to home. As I sat reading it, I kept thinking “wow, this is me…” I’ve thought many times in the past about that very topic (life, commitments, etc.), and wondered if the way I felt was “normal”, or if I really was stressed out and stretched too thin. Lately I think I’ve decided that I really do need to get a grip on my life and figure some things out. This certainly isn’t the way I want to live out the rest of my years…

Do you ever reach a point where you’re stressed out, stretched too thin over too many projects, and you just feel like you need to take a step back from everything and try and get your focus back?

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve felt like the whole world is resting on my shoulders, and that nothing will get done if I’m not paying close attention to it. Even though I know it’s not true, it’s hard not to let it get to you over time. When you add an extra class to the normal stress of every day life and a full time job, even the best of us can get overwhelmed very quickly by it all.

I guess over the past few weeks, that’s what’s happened to me. I finally got to the point of no return and just had to step back from some of my commitments for a while and catch my breath. I haven’t had time for much of anything, and I think that disappoints me more than anyone. I had so many great plans for this summer, and it seems like none of them are going to be accomplished.

Not only did I want to get on a more regular (possibly daily) blogging schedule, but I also had several coding-related projects I wanted to at least get 75% finished with before Fall. Unfortunately, things show no sign of letting up, and I don’t know whether I’ll be able to keep up even this pace, much less add more on.

Fear not. Even though stress isn’t the best creativity-inducer, I shall return in all my blogging glory… Stand strong, my faithful readers, for your Meller shall not disappoint thee!