Almost one year later . . .

I should have known - because this is what I always do - that I wouldn't keep up a blog.
Just like I don't keep up a journal for more than a season.
Just like I go through phases of drawing (or not drawing), gardening (or not gardening), cooking (or not cooking), exercising (or not exercising), keeping up with some sort of skin care regimen (or not).
Admittedly, there are things that I do pretty consistently. These things include:

• parenting
• performing
• making music
• reading
• watching TV
• checking email
• eating
• going to happy hour with friends
  
• putting on comfy clothes the minute I get home

I will do a minimum of six of these nine things every single day. But you can't count on me taking my mascara of before I go to bed on any given day. Only on those days when I am on the skin care regimen routine.

It seems to me that my issue with a lack of consistency lies in the particular phase of "Mel" that I find myself in - and this phase can appear seasonally, yearly, by the decade, on a whim, randomly . . . whatever. Here are some "Mels" that show up from time to time:

• Healthy Mel: She is friendly and perky. She exercises regularly, goes on walks, buys equipment she believes she will use 3-5 times a week, eats organic, devises a garden plan, brushes her teeth after each meal, takes her make-up off every night;
• Artist Mel: She's a bit broody. She stays up late, makes ink drawings involving lots of eyes and cats and words, listens to angst ridden music, rearranges the house, falls asleep on the couch most nights, goes to bed in whatever she is wearing (make-up included);
• Travel Mel: She is sooo cosmopolitan. She is busy planning the next trip, buys new clothes to fit the place, checks her miles to make sure she can reach elite status, plans new adventures in new cities, does things she doesn't have time to do at home (like go to a spa);
  
• Party Mel: She's up for anything. She is fun, she laughs a lot, she shares the attention with whoever she is with, she sings, she dances, she jumps on your back, if you've got a crazy idea about how to make the night more fun she's there;
• Reflective Mel: She thinks she can fix herself by writing about it. This is the journaling Mel, the letter writing Mel, the blogging Mel. This is the Mel that started this blog - and the Mel that is picking it up again now. This is the Mel that wishes she could be more consistent.
  

So - there we go. I'm going to try again and see what happens - and hopefully not hate myself if I fail . . . again.