Bouts and Doubts and Love Always

Dear Readers,

I hope this finds you well.
It's been a while since you've heard from me; my apologies for breaking the silence.

Jokes aside (*serious face*): in the event that Divagations indeed has readers who look forward to reading it, I want to apologize for my hiatus. I've recently endured a one-two punch of personal hardships that have apparently rendered me incapable of keeping up with my responsibilities here. But time waits for no one, and the train rolls on, and then the lost time compounds and flummoxes, discouraging me from keeping on if I cannot keep up.

(I can at least take pride in knowing that my illustrious delinquency has not been entirely for naught: it yielded and serves to underscore As It Were: The Long-Lost Blue-Noted Romance Yarn by Amos Bankhead, a novel which I've been serializing in Divagations [though each previously-written piece is reimagined for/prior to publication on the site, perhaps the way a jazz musician might reinterpret a tune to make it fresh for a particular audience...])

Re: that audience: I have always been conflicted about it, dating back to my days on stage—but while I might continue to wrestle with those feelings, I know that I am grateful for it, and I do not take it for granted. So if you're reading this, I am grateful for you, for your interest in and support of my work, and as such I owe it to you to fight through adversity and keep on doing what I(‘m supposed to) do. This struggle is compounded by my penchant for turning inward during confusing times, as well as my anachronistic tendencies, and my severe aversion to sharing for sharing's sake and the concept of 'content creation'. As a writer, I generally tend toward the ponderous celerity (if not the esteemed caliber) of a Robert Caro as opposed to, say, a Maria Popova (despite the latter's mind-boggling ability to create work of substance so prolifically). I guess I'm still finding my rhythm—as we all must, find it and feel it and figure out how to dance—and I'm so very grateful for your patience and understanding. Indeed, it's part of my story, and something that informs my work—and as I want to honor those who might possibly appreciate that work in one way or another, I'm going to try to keep on, despite my doubts and bouts of/with despair. So with all my heart: thanks for your continued readership and support, and sending my very best wishes and love to all, always.

Justin