Ah reckon it’s about time to end this hiatus. It’s been awhile.
The worst thing is that I actually have had some funny and interesting stuff that I could write about here (such as the story behind the picture above), but I’ve just been putting it off. I’ve been going through a sort of writer’s identity crisis after reading an article about how one should ‘brand’ oneself on the internet.
This spurred a flurry of thoughts about what I wanted to do or specialize in, how I wanted to be perceived as a writer, etc etc. Should I buy a domain name and make a professional website? Should that domain name be sabrinadoyle.com or simplysab.net?
I’ll spend hours scouring the internet looking for tips and examples of what other people have done. I’ll find tons of stuff I like the look/idea of, realize there’s no way I can do all of them and circle back to trying to pinpoint what kind of writing niche I want to carve for myself in this digital world. Do I have what it takes to be a writer at all?!
[Wait… chronic procrastinator.. torn on how to portray myself and the world around me.. sporadic yet debilitating self-doubt… Why, I am a writer! Glorious.]
Invariably, I still end up lying back against my pillows, looking at the ceiling, utterly spent and no less confused.
And then – if mommy’s not picking up her phone – apparently I write a blog post to vent about it.
Anyway, last weekend I spent two days romping around in the woods at Caledonia Gorge with a bunch of scientists for the provincial BioBlitz. Kinda nerdy, but super fun. AND I pitched and wrote a front page story about one of the scientists there. You may find the article here.
But yes. These scientists were crazy devoted. They would be out in the field by 8 or 8:30am and would be in the lab until midnight, eyes glued to microscopes and logging biological information about everything they collected that day.
I got to see a frog get de-skinned! Not dissected, de-skinned. It was like the highschool biology class I never got to take. The skin was actually impressively durable, but didn’t really seem all that attached to the body itself and came off easily. Like peeling a wet piece of paper off a dewy windowpane.
And with that, I’ll proceed to some lovely pictures from the weekend (ADVANCE WARNING TO WEAK BELLIES: I will include ONE picture of the frog de-skinning at the very end.)
Simply Sab 
Why can’t you just keep writing the way you do? It’s clear, flows easily, is always interesting and has a certain level of excitement to it, like you’re sitting in front of me talking to me. I always love your photography too. You’re a natural, Sab.
Haha thanks Kevin. Always there to boost my ego.
I know the branding crisis. I’ve held back on writing a lot on my blog bc I know it’s out there and could be a reference for future jobs, etc. It puts a major writers block on, for sure.
I think you’re ten steps ahead of everyone else though, by keeping an active blog. It’s a learning experience. Figuring out your brand right now is like figuring out your entire future right now. Unnecessary worry. Go with the flow.
hahah, “active blog”.. thanks christina, I knew someone else would be feeling the same way! 😛