Blogging, a restart

I started this blog eight years ago, but haven't made an entry since 2016. Do people still blog? Or is everyone an essayist or a podcaster? Instagram is much easier. I feel like I need to strain my brain a bit this year, so writing it is.
And my old doggo gets me up too early, so I might as well write. I deleted Netflix from my phone so I would choose reading or writing on these early mornings instead of that "sweet, sweet pap" of TV.
Trying to turn off my editor brain while I write is a struggle for me. I think blogging on my phone like this will help because it's too much effort to go back and edit anything.
Daily I wander through my self-constructed microsphere, working, reading, watching tv, dog-walking, eating, cooking, grocery shopping. I'm at a point where I like my tiny life. Over the years, I've carefully constructed this milieu to avoid stress and have a comfortable life. I recognize the privilege that enables me to do so.
No matter how hard I try to control the stress level, to mollify my anxiety brain, the real world intrudes: my father passed last year, my dog struggles with her old age, the mammogram has to be done twice (I'm okay), the car needs repairs, the condo fees go up, so does my weight. And the entire world flames in chaos. Right, there's that. I try to make my personal life as stressless as possible because of the swirling morass of the general Earth polity. If I don't mean to try to do anything about that, then why ever think about it? I'm just trying to make my own little life work in some way.
My father's favorite saying was the serenity prayer by Niebuhr, which is now identified with AA:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."
My father had a copy of that prayer pinned to his cubicle at work; he read it every day, and often advocated its message to my brother and me when we were anxious or troubled. I saw that courage to change things in action many times in his life. Yet he also worked very hard and arranged the elements of his life to create a haven for himself and my mother.
Every line I type generates a new digression in my mind, so the point of restarting this blog was achieved at least for today: the brain awakes a bit.
This format of stream of consciousness writing is how I've always journaled. Today it felt a little productive.