Thoughtful Thursday - Blogging Like Cooking

I love to cook. I hate making dinner. At least, I hate trying to figure out what's for dinner. I can stare at the contents of the fridge, freezer and pantry forever, only to get frustrated because nothing good comes to mind.

Annoyed, I eventually pull out the ingredients and throw together something from the standard rotation. Nothing new or exciting but at least The Man and The Herd get fed. Fortunately, I have a long list of standard dishes in the rotation and they all love my cooking, so they don't mind. But for me, cooking like this is not satisfying.

When I plan ahead, however, I get excited about making dinner. I create menus before I go grocery shopping, ensuring that at least one new-to-us recipe is included for the week. When it comes time to make dinner, I can skip the decision-making process and get right to the fun stuff - actual cooking.

For the last couple of years, though, I haven't been very good about this planning ahead. Juggling two businesses, kids, household and writing, I forget these peeps in this house need food until one of them says, "Mom, what's for dinner?" And I say, "You want dinner??? But you just had dinner last night."

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Since they insist on eating every day, I draw on whatever energy I have left to ensure they do. Grocery shopping and cooking become last-minute, just-get-it-done tasks. I buy the same stuff every week because it's easy, making shopping almost automatic. Automatic but so uninspiring.

I've realized recently that all of this applies to blogging for me. I love to blog. I hate deciding what to blog about. Just like I can stare at the refrigerator until the milk jug forms little beads of sweat, I can stare at the blank Blogger box, wondering what to do with it. When I haven't thought ahead, nothing sounds enticing, so I end up either not blogging at all or boring the crap out of me and my readers.

But like cooking, when I know what my next post is going to be about, it comes fairly easily. I've had time for the idea to stew in my mind so when it comes time to write, many of the sentences are already fully formed. And I have so many ideas I really want to execute on this blog, but haven't yet. Because, again, I've been in survival mode.

As part of the nesting phase I'm in right now, I'm organizing my blog schedule. I'm actually creating a calendar just for the blog and will schedule in those fun features I've been wanting to do for months. I'm already getting excited about blogging again. I can't wait to share these new features.

Then, maybe I can spend less time staring at a blank Blogger screen and more time planning next week's meals.
Do you like to cook? How do you keep it exciting? And how do you keep your blogging fresh and inspiring?