The Real Reasons I Don't Blog Much Anymore

Hi, friends.  I recently relieved a spate of, "You don't blog very much anymore" emails.  As I began to write my usual, "Oh, I've been SO busy with work and life, you know how it is, blah blah blah" emails," I thought: But that's not really true.  I could be blogging a ton and I'm not.  Why?  

Well, there are a few real reasons.  Maybe sharing them with you will get me back into writing BW some more.  Or maybe not.  I guess we'll see.  Either way, your feedback would be awesome.

1. This is the main one, and the hardest to talk about.  I worry that now, in my very late 30s, my thoughts about gender and sexual orientation are passé.  I am a butch woman.  I'm cool with being a woman.  I'm also cool with AFAB (assigned-female-at-birth) folks who AREN'T cool with being women.  But most of the serious conversation about masculine-of-center life these days seems to be about not being a woman: about agender or genderfluid or trans identities.  That's great--but it's not me.  I just don't feel like there are that many cisgendered masculine-of-center women out there anymore, especially under the age of 35.  At least in my circles, there is strong social pressure to be something more gender-expansive than "woman."  But why does "woman" have to be so damn narrow that it can't contain me?  I don't know, folks.   It's hard not to feel irrelevant these days when you're someone who (1) regularly gets called "sir" and (2) uses she/her pronouns.   

2. There has been reduced engagement with the blog when I do post: fewer likes and fewer comments.  Part of the reason I blog is to open conversations with people throughout the world.  Sometimes, though, it feels like I'm typing into a void, which makes it less fun for me.  It's possible that my writing is getting less engaging, or that I'm writing about less engaging topics (e.g., more depressing Supreme Court cases, fewer fashion tips).  It's also possible that people don't read blogs as much as they used to.   But regardless of the reason, the fact remains--and less interaction with readers makes me less eager to write.

3. Admittedly, life has interfered.  Namely: I have a real, steady job that I love but which is also super demanding; I wrote a book (related to my work life); my wife and I bought a house; my two dogs are terribly behaved; I've taken up pottery and kayaking (possibly the two most lesbian hobbies in existence); I'm trying to pay off my student loans; we moved across the country a couple years ago and I'm trying to get used to snow and humidity.  These things are non-trivial.

Anyhow, I didn't want you to think I wasn't thinking of you anymore.  I am.  I'm just kind of sitting with all of these thoughts and obstacles in the current political moment and it has added up to me not writing very much.  
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