Hello, @carolkean! A poet used to say that when we read and we find ourselves in what we read, the writing ceases to be the writer's and becomes the reader's. Regarding to stop writing, it's sad if you did it for others, but if it's a period of aridity, of demotivation, it's normal. It has happened to all writers, good and bad. There are moments of great demotivation, but the advice is to always seek to write, even if it's a little, almost nothing. As in any lover's relationship: writing is sometimes elusive, but when it is delivered, the delivery is total and pleasurable.
My grandmother used to say that from so much thinking and saying things, they came true. At one time, it became fashionable to write “maps of desire”, I don't know if you knew about this. On those maps you would put everything you wanted from the universe and that is what it is all about: to make visible what we carry inside. Say what you want.
Thank you for such a detailed comment and I would like to read something of yours, so I am going to “curucutear your blog”. Greetings from Venezuela.