Lemons and Lemonade

It’s Thursday afternoon, 1^st October 2026. The sun is up in the sky; oranges are in season, and watermelons and lemons. You haven’t written your blog in a while, and you can’t blame the oranges, not even the watermelons, but perhaps you can blame the lemons; you imagine the sourness, and your face contorts. You don’t know how you took such a long break from wearing your heart on your sleeve every week. More than structuring your thoughts, more than being read, it was an avenue for you to offload.

So why did you stop? You can’t put a finger on exactly why, but you miss it; it has been your way of understanding yourself, understanding others, and understanding the world. More than that, it has also been your way of giving back. Giving people who enjoy the written word the opportunity to learn from your triumphs and failures, and making their journey in this world a little bit lighter because you exist.

Since you last wrote, a lot has happened, and yet you could say nothing has happened at all. Life, like the ocean, has a way of smoothing out despite the worst storms or the most grandiose ships that show up.

It’s October 1^st, 2026; you’re seated at your writing desk. There’s a yellow bowl of watermelons mixed with bananas; well, there was a yellow bowl of watermelons mixed with bananas, now there is only a silver fork with a red handle that dangles in an empty bowl. All that sugar; you should have squeezed a lemon to balance things out, you thought. That ship sailed, or did it, because you could always fix yourself another bowl? You had gotten a new thought, and you had put a pin on it.

“You should write,” a voice has been whispering in your ear.

“I am writing,” you have been responding, and an onlooker might say it has been in annoyance.

“But the novel is nearly complete. I meant on your blog,” the voice has been adding, and you haven’t cared much for its tone even though it has been faint, thousands of miles away in the background.

You have been procrastinating, or you have been doubting yourself. Can I face the blank page the way I used to? Will I have the same impact? Yes, a lot has happened, but can I even put it in words, or should I let these things, like the storms in an ocean, eventually smooth out? You have been second-guessing yourself even though you have noticed while writing your novel that you’re clearer and more mature on the page.

It’s 1^st October 2026, and you have decided to face the blank page and blog for the first time in a while, and you have decided you will make a point to do it, at least monthly if not weekly. You also get up and fix yourself another bowl of watermelons and bananas, and you squeeze some lemon on top of them in the name of lemons, lemonade, and encouraging idioms.

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To read more of my writing, pick up my books at Text Book Centre, Soma Nami, and Nuria Bookstore. Kindle readers and those outside the country can access the books via Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. Enjoy!

image credit: fotorech