As the beginning of my fourth year of blogging commences, I find myself reflecting back on all those emails, comments, and asides from countless people asking me:
“How do you find the time to blog? It sounds like you’re running in 10 different directions at once.”
I’d always shrug the “busy” factor off, knowing that blogging was a fun and satisfying activity. I always seemed to find the time, even if it seemed like my schedule was insane on paper.
This fall, it’s like someone jammed my schedule into overdrive, and, quite frankly, I’m tired. Tired of driving all over the place. Tired of being a student teacher. Tired of having everyone want a piece of me. Even blogging, the activity that I always seemed to find time to do, has burned me out.
I’m tired of working so hard all the time. Tired of never having a moment of time to myself. Tired of never being able to go out for dinner (unless you count a frantic KFC scarfing 25 minutes before a gig as dinner) or being able to see a movie. Tired of the ceaseless pace of my stupid schedule, with my weekends booked from dawn to dusk, my weekdays spent at school, and my weeknights packed solid with teaching until bedtime.
This sucks.
Why am I doing this to myself? And where on Earth does blogging fit into this kind of life?
I’m also tired of gigging. Every gig I play these days reinforces my convictio that this is not the life for me. That’s precisely why I am in school now, and student teaching’s conclusion in a few weeks marks the final stretch of this journey.
The utter fatigue I feel makes me wonder what kind of blogging and podcasting time I will have as I transition into a new career. I know that my desire to blog will come back after this insane fall draws to a close, but I need to be careful not to overcommitt my more relaxed schedule with Internet activities.
Life’s too short to spend every minute working. The last few years have been, with a few rare moments here and there, constant, mind numbing work, and I want to try my best to seek a balance, to have time with my wife, time to go for a stroll along the lake, time to read a book, see a movie, or have a relaxing evening devoid of teaching, working, gigglng, blogging, or podcasting.
I’m not sure how exactly I’ll go about this. But there’s got to be a way.
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Jason,
I think you have worked a lot for this Blog, and
all those like me which follow you have appreciated a lot this Blog. But probably it’s a question of writing not every day. It’s impossible to do it for everyone. You have demonstrated to have great passion and energies, but I really think that it’s only a question of “time”. Btw., if you have already choosen, personally I have to tell you “Thank you, Jason for everything you have done”.
Man, I know how you feel. I have worked a full-time ‘day job’ plus evening and weekends gigging, teaching, coaching, etc. for 17 years now. Yikes! The only thing that keeps me going is to know that there are people all over the world who work day and night in not-so-nice jobs just to maintain. All in all, we are pretty lucky to make part of our living doing something that we love. That being said, I have been in exactly the place you are wanting to give up some or all of this crazy pace. What to do? Good luck with whatever decisions you make.
Hey Jason, perhaps you should limit the amount of episodes coming out, instead of 1 per week, it could be 1 per month. Just a suggestion, you could also limit the amount of articles being published or perhaps get a full time partner(s) to help you manage the site! Thank you for everything you’ve done, you’ve provided the bass community with a wealth of information.
Jason, I forgot to add something else. If by chance you decide that you need to take a step back from blogging, I don’t think ANYONE in the bass community would ever blame you…Seriously man, the amount of work you put into this operation is phenomenal and you should be extremely proud of the results…I’ve learned SO much just by reading the articles and listening to the interviews that it has really benefited my playing and helped me grow as a musician. The only person I can thank for that is you, and I’m sure a ton of people out there feel the same way.
Thank you once again for everything.
Jason,
I think that what you’re feeling is absolutely normal. The work you have put on this blog is amazing and I, as a student, am very grateful to you for all the knowledge and information I found on this blog.
In my opinion you should take some kind of “blogging vacations”. Take some time off to think and to organize your mind. You’re not a machine! Even if you stay an entire year without blogging (I hope not 🙂 ) the articles, the interviews and etc, is already a big help to the bass comunity judging by the amount of people that discovers your blog everyday.
I think everyone will understand perfectly. Relax man.
Thank you once again for everything you did for this blog.
Greetings from Portugal.
I can only echo what others have said — you have offered the bass community more than we could have ever asked for, more than any single person could be expected. When I joked about “Infinite Jason”, I may not have done you justice, since all your blog posts and podcasts over the last few years, published in a book, would quite possibly dwarf “Infinite Jest”.
Just because you’ve done this so long — and so well! — doesn’t mean you need to keep doing it the same way forever. And if you’re feeling burnt out, that’s an opportunity to step back, to re-assess your priorities, and re-organize your activities in a way that keeps you energized and inspired.