I have fallen so far behind in my blogging and also more generally in my writing, I have started to become annoyed. It is one of those personal things – for whatever reason, if I don’t have enough time to write – it doesn’t have to be a longform essay, but even just a short note encircling a thought or the most basic of blog entries describing a neat equation – after a while I grow perturbed. Writing has always given me something important when it comes life and navigating existence. But even less so existentially, the freedom to just write is something I enjoy as a natural extension of my passion for reading, and studying, and for books! What I have noticed, however, is that over the last couple of years I have regularly gone through periods where I am actively writing (and by extension blogging) followed by long stretches of complete silence with no new essays or journal entries or blog posts (it is a stark contrast to the periods in life where I would write for hours every day!). I think some of this silence is a result of me struggling for time or lacking energy. I suppose this corresponds naturally to the ebb and flow of one’s academic and scientific career, which is still a new thing for me. For instance, during the late winter months and through the spring, I’ve been working on so many different projects and calculations, writing papers, preparing talks, in addition to other miscellaneous duties, as much as I’ve wanted to write (and have felt the need to write) it has come up against either tiredness or a different tension to want to do completely different things like: chill with Beth, take trips to the countryside, listen to history podcasts (recently finished Dan Carlin’s series Twilight of the Aesir, which is fantastic by the way; I feel it dovetails nicely with parts of Dan Jones’ book Power and Thrones for those interested), play strategy games, catch up on some sci-fi or fantasy, or spend entire afternoons at the golf course!

Having said all that, I feel like I can and should be better at finding more time each week to write and subsequently to blog (the more I think about it, the more I realise these are not necessarily the same thing). I have made a plan. And hopefully as spring draws to a close, and over the summer, as a result of me writing actively again you will notice a general increase in activity on this blog.