Hello + Ikea in Black and White

Ahem. It's been so long I hardly remember how to begin a post. I hope a simple hello will suffice.

Hello. Some friends of mine were taking turns googling each other, and I happened to be in the room at the time, so they looked up my name as well. Buried among other links, a dusty old blog appeared that I realized had turned 4 in August, and I hadn't even been around to say happy birthday to it. I realize now Indigo Ink is now closer to being 5 than it is to being 4, but I feel like I have commemorate the many, many years of hard work my younger self put into these posts. So, I'll say it now. Happy birthday.

Now, I'm not going to make any promises, since there seems to be a continuing pattern of my making promises related to this blog, and then breaking them almost immediately. No excuses, either, since there are plenty of those here as well. Scrolling through my archives a few days ago, I felt a pang of nostalgia, and wondered whatever happened to that girl obsessed with books and her blog. Since then, I haven't been able to get blogging out of my head, and so to be able to sleep with peace of mind, I am bent on writing a post before I lay down, no matter how long it will take.

I think part of the problem is that I seem to have run out of all my creative inspiration for this blog. Perhaps, most people would move on to a fresh start and create a new website, but I am determined, that after so many years of hard work, this blog will continue to exist, and that I will continue to post, even if it will not be often. To quote Gloria Gaynor, "I will survive."

So, since I have absolutely no idea what I should post, other than my classic ramblings of course, I'll just share some photos that I took a few months ago. My poor old camera has been sitting on my nightstand since then, gathering dust, but I hope you will enjoy these. I tried to be a bit different and original when I took them, attempting to find beauty in the oddity and wildness of IKEA stores, so they might seem a bit unusual, for lack of a better word, to some, but I do hope you all enjoy them.

 Also, two more things before we part ways:

(1) Blogger always seems to lower the quality and clarity of my photographs whenever I upload them; does/has anyone else experienced this and/or know how to fix it? It has been going for years, and I can't seem to find anyone else online who has had the same problem.

(2) Did you all enjoy the life update and a random burst of photographs above? Would you like to see more photos of my odd little outings? And please, I beg of you, let me know if you have any ideas for posts on the blog, or if there is anything you would like to see more of on here; I am absolutely desperate for any suggestions.

I suppose that is all. I've missed this blog, and all of you, and sorely hope that you have missed me.

finding inspiration: blog posts

It can sometimes be difficult to create new and exciting content that your followers will enjoy reading. I often struggle with this. One of the biggest reasons I've been away from this blog for so long is because I simply cannot come up with any ideas I feel are worthy of posting. And so, when in doubt, write a post telling people how to find inspiration on writing posts.

Let's take a look into my mind, shall we?

+ Read the posts of others
When I read the posts of my fellow bloggers, I sometimes think of something similar I could write that might appeal to my followers. Often times, I either simply admire what my peer has written, or come up with something entirely different for my own blog. However, I never steal content from others, but if I like an idea so much that I'd like to recreate it, I simply ask for permission from the original author to do something similar. 

+ Ask for ideas
If I'm feeling particularly stumped, and need to produce some creative content, I often ask for the ideas of friends and family. More often that not, they give me a lovely idea for a new post, such as this one. Don't be afraid to ask for help; the ideas that sparked many of my favorite posts have been from my loved ones.

+ Photography

Sometimes, I have no ideas for new content but I'm itching to write something up and post it. The first thing I turn to is my beloved flash drive that holds most of my photographs. It doesn't take long to edit a few of my best pictures from my most recent adventures and jot down a few sentences to accompany every other photo. In the end, I am left with something that didn't drain me or take days to write, but I am still proud of. Often times, my photography posts are my most popular.

+ A part two 

What you are reading right now is an excellent example of what I mean. Two years ago, I wrote a post called Finding Inspiration: Poetry, where I shared things that may inspire me to write poems in my day to day life. This week, I found I was too occupied to come up with something more original, but since I am fond of irony, the idea for this post came to mind. I try to not write many similar posts, as I like everything I publish to be as original and creative as possible, but sometimes it may be a good idea to recreate an old post.

What do you do when you need an idea for a blog post? Let me know if you try anything suggested above.

a postcard to marrakech

Dearest Marrakech,

It's been about a year since I last saw you. When the doors of the plane opened up and I tasted the dry dusty air, you didn't seem like much. But then I saw your bright and clear blue sky, and smelled the kebabs and tagines cooking in the depths of your city, and thought you might be all right.

You turned out to be so much more than that. Even with your terrible air-conditioning and the dust that seemed to coat my shoes at all times, you wove your way into my heart.

You, with your extensive history, your bright colors, your incredibly friendly citizens that would act as if we had known each other all our lives.

I want to thank you for your hospitality, for welcoming my family and I, and so many others like us onto your main roads packed with traffic, your tourist attractions, your quiet little restaurants, and your secluded alleyways.

I know it might be cliche to say, but I miss you. So very much. I miss your clean white walls and your exotic gardens and your leather goods deep in your enticing souks. I hope, that my eyes will be able to feast upon your beauty again one day soon.