Spot on.   I had pretty much stopped writing when I somehow fell into this haiku thing and it just sort of snowballed.  I was never very confident in my writing ability and never sure what to do with it.  At one point I had delusions about succeeding as a playwright, but I think I am too far down the road for that now; too much water under the bridge so to speak, but that is okay, I do it now for the fun and, yes, the feedback, which inevitably sparks more writing.  

You are a very good writer, keep writing, if nothing else, it may lead you to some wonderful self-discoveries, and that, in and of itself, is a pretty good thing.  
 

Keep writing and don't worry about losing posts, the replacements take less time and are more succinct.

For me, the value of the site is the community which is created, accomplished through the written word, and most satisfying when the personal vignettes lighten the subject matter.  

In this age of oligarchy, religious and contrived histories being interjected into school curricula by special interests, and ubiquitous market forces, our medium is unique in its protection and facilitation of the free use of imagination.  So write, dammit.

Write. Damn all of you

who hold back, hiding in @#s's

Up and out herein!  

Hi barefooted, I'm so sorry that you lost your post. I have to figure out what's going with the site. I absolutely identify with what you've written here. I remember spending hours composing snarky party invitations and droll emails in search of outlets for my suppressed creativity. In 2008, I started blogging at TPM Cafe, and it seemed as if a new star had dawned on the world. I relished every recommendation and compliment, especially the LOLs that have fallen from favor now. But mostly I just reveled in my rediscovered powers of self-expression. I found myself ignoring my work that so that I could write and write and write.

I think many of us experienced such epiphanies, but perhaps I took it a step further than most. I wasn't satisfied with squeezing in blog posts between software gigs. I decided that I must do this for a living, and I've been at it ever since. I haven't reached self-sufficiently yet, but I feel lucky that I've made it so far, and I'm optimistic of getting there eventually.

Unfortunately, I've lost something along the way. The pleasure that I took in writing, especially the satire and the wit, has faded. I enjoyed writing the last book, though it was a grind at times. After finishing, I felt pressure to promote the book by writing op-eds, which became a chore. Writing became something that I ought to do rather than something I wanted to do.

That's why I haven't blogged here for so long. I'm hoping that if I Ieave the field fallow for a bit, the old pleasure will return. Or perhaps I just need to find my voice again.