Springing into action

Nothing says springtime in Toronto like the intoxicating whiff of street meat and this afternoon I enjoyed my first noseful of the season. Could it be that happiness is a warm 'dog?

A friend and celebrated blogger warned me this might happen the day I made public my desire to maintain a blog.

“It can be difficult to stick with,” he cautioned in a comment on my first posting and although I didn't want to believe it, I'm afraid the man is spot on. Every month, my posts become increasingly sparse. Pretty soon this blog will look like a dead lawn with a few ratty dandelions desperately clinging to life. It's time I start to tend my blog as if it were my garden - something that will only survive with a little TLC.

For me, blogging is like flossing my teeth, or jogging, or reading before bed: it's a good habit that keeps me happier, and possibly even healthier, than when I don't do it. It's one of those tasks that can seem overwhelming or impossible before its begun, but in the end, I always feel better for having done it. Rarely do we regret doing things that are beneficial to our physical or mental health.

Time. That's the culprit here. But isn't it always? Who has time to do anything these days? It's the same answer we use to excuse our inability to stay in touch with friends in distant places, or our failure to cook a nice meal at dinneritme, or why we've never been to the ballet. What is keeping us so busy that it leaves us with no time to do anything?

My goal from here on in is to keep up with the posts, to plant more seeds in this arid, wintered soil. We'll have flowers sprouting in this brownland in no time. Spring hasn't just arrived in the city. It's arrived here, on my blog, too.