Free time

Hey there. I hope you're doing great.

First, a heads-up: I'm taking a break from writing on Makiroll throughout May and June. Not because of burnout, don't worry, but because I'd like to take the time to reflect on my goals and how best to spend my personal time to achieve them.

In the last few months I've been preoccupied with rebuilding my personal brand after two "meh" years, and before that, a turbulent year at work that decimated whatever confidence I had in myself. I started Makiroll as part of that recovery effort, hoping to build for myself an independent space for self-expression (which I now have, thankfully). Makiroll was never meant to be just a blog, though, and since relaunching last January I've been thinking of switching to a Tumblr-like newsfeed format later this year, combining my usual long-form writing with photos, short messages, and videos.

That's not going to happen, though. At least not this year. It's been a challenge to focus on anything lately, and I couldn't be less enthused about a side pursuit that involves software development—the same thing I spend 8 hours a day at work doing or at least dealing with. It's not that I'm getting tired of it; I've just been craving for something different to sink my mind into.

And speaking of somethig different, I've also been thinking quite a lot about the investment I'm willing to make in Makiroll, or at least the blog aspect of it. People, apparently, can't be bothered with reading long-form prose anymore; this reality has hung over my head since day one, and as a result I adopted an expression-over-readership mindset to keep me focused on writing. But I'd be lying if I said I never cared, because there's no denying that the time I spend on Makiroll and every article is an investment and part of me wants to see a return on it. Lately I've been exploring other pursuits that might either be more worthwhile or help me rebuild my confidence more quickly, and although I'm not giving up on writing just yet, I might have to scale back some of my plans for Makiroll.

I just need to give myself time to reconsider the motivations vis-a-vis my short- and medium-term aspirations. I won't be able to do that amid the pressure to put out something new, so I'm taking a break for now.

It won't be long. I'll be back.