Taking a few days to clear my head

Good Monday! Let’s chat a bit.

A friend recently reminded me that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. She said that to me for a reason.

“You need to take a break,” she said. “You need to think about Mike.”

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And so, I am.

You know, I’m fairly open here about my personal life as it pertains to writing a blog. As a sober alcoholic, I’m happy most of the time. Things generally pan out evenly. Some days are better than others, that kind of thing.

On rare occasions, though, life hits like a sudden thunderstorm and I get soaked with nowhere to hide.

That’s how it feels right now.

The 491 mess left a personal toll, no doubt about it. All that stress I bottled up for seven weeks was suddenly released. I noticed the physical discomfort first and recognized it right away from prior experience. Sometimes, it disappears after a day or two. This time, it didn't.

Eventually, that discomfort is going to creep into my writing, if it hasn’t already, in the form of arrogance and poor judgment. I’m a one-person gig here; I don’t have editors or co-workers who can sense my crazy before it hits the blogosphere.

Experience tells me the only sure remedy to this problem is rest and reset. While a day or two recharges the batteries during normal times, that won’t work when the mental/physical is in full attack mode. Like it is now.

So, I’m taking a little break from blogging.

Just a little one…the rest of this week. We'll start back up the day after Memorial Day; I’ll keep a daily Facebook presence until then.

I thought of running “best of” blogs but decided against it. The blog itself could use a reset as well.

I'll be honest. I'd rather be writing but I clearly need some downtime. Other than holidays or an occasional day off, I’ve written five days a week steadily now for nearly four years. I've found a rhythm and pace that works.

That’s what makes this such a tough call. I really enjoy writing the blog. I just need to, well, not do it for a few days.

I’ll admit…not sure how smart it is for a daily blogger to go dark for a week. Considering we just hit 8,200 Facebook followers on Saturday — three weeks after 8,100 — the last thing I want to do is discourage readership.

But I've been writing about mental-health issues long enough to know what'll happen if I ignore this. It won’t be pretty.

I appreciate your indulgence and patience. Just Wright Citrus is taking a little breather, then it’s right back into conversation mode.

— Couldn’t let the week go without a hearty congrats to the Chronicle for moving into their new digs in Inverness. I shared retired publisher Gerry Mulligan’s column on the JWC Facebook page; please read it if you haven’t already. No one better describes the significance of the Chronicle in Citrus County than Gerry.

As a longtime subscriber and Chronicle alumnus, I’m excited for this next chapter in our hometown newspaper’s life.

— Just for the fun of it, today’s photo is from one of the most serene spots in Citrus County. Care to guess?

That’s it for now. Have an awesome week, friends.

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