Eight days before November 1st, I made a commitment to attempt NaBloPoMo. I was scared, anxious, excited. I wondered if anyone would actually care and read this blog. I wondered if I was a writer at all. Thirty days later, I have proof that I am a writer. When I was in graduate school, one of my instructors wrote a book in which he said, “Everyone who writes is in the process of becoming a writer.” It was the most freeing words I’d heard, ever. Before that period, I had an extremely low self-esteem about my abilities as a writer. Thanks to this challenge, my self-esteem as a writer has grown.
What I learned and accomplished in the past 30 days is:
1. I am a writer.
2. Others did read it, in fact I went from a strong 25 followers to 578!
3. I got Freshly Pressed.
4. My co-workers would not only read it, but laugh about it and talked to me about it.
5. I let go of my overly critically self because I had to produce.
6. Because I had to publish each day, details of everyday happenings became magnified.
7. I am a writer!
So now what? Will I blog more than I used to? Will I continue my relationships from Yeah Write? I don’t know. I hope that I will continue to blog more than I used to. One thing I know, although a few days ago it didn’t feel like it, the month flew by. I am so grateful to be done, but more grateful for having done it. As a teacher, I often discount challenges like this with the excuse: “I’m a teacher, that’s impossible.” Well, I have conquered the impossible actually and came out breathing. The one lesson that is more important than all the above listed lessons is that I learned that NaBloPoMo is like life: there are some days when you are so tired and exhausted that blogging is the last thing you want to do, but you do it anyway; then there are some days when an idea drops into your brain and you write about it riding in on clouds smiling the whole way. Good days and bad days are a constant; I will make it through both. What makes is easier, however, is the awesome community of bloggers and friends that support me through the good and the bad days, so thank you!
