Writing Challenge Recap

When I started out on this month long writing challenge I was uncertain what I was getting myself into.  Could I do it?  What would I write about everyday?  How would I find time? Would people be interested in what I had to say?  There were so many questions, but I listened to my inner voice and committed.  This journey has been a remarkable one.   I was inspired and encouraged by my sister and best friend who after following my blog for a few days started their own.  I will be forever grateful to my amazing colleagues for their dedication, encouragement and feedback.  Each of your blogs touched me and inspired me daily.

Of the original challenge crew, there is only one of us that met the challenge head on and wrote EVERYDAY.  Her blog was deeply personal and helped me to realize that I am not alone in my journey through grief.  Reading the memories she shared of her mother and her own honesty about where she is in her journey through grief helped me in more ways than I can begin to express.  While nobody grieves the same, it was often her comments on my blogs that helped me feel not as crazy, not as out of touch of reality as I sometimes feel.  I am so grateful that through our writing we were able to connect in a way that our daily schedule at school would never allow.  Thank you for sharing Jamie... you are a gifted writer and incredible woman.

Although I missed a few days (three while I was away at a funeral) I am proud of myself for rising to the occasion.  For taking the time to think and to write and to share.  I had a hunch that my writing would be mostly about my dad... I was right.  My blogs are not perfect, each time I go back and re-read them (which I do frequently) I find millions of errors that could be corrected.  Yet, my blogs were what I needed.  They were an honest release.  They were the stories and the feelings that I had been rummaging over for months inside my head.  To put them on paper... it was and is therapy.

The writing challenge is over, well technically speaking.  My journey of blogging, of sharing my thoughts in writing has only just begun.  I am creating a new challenge for myself in April.  I will now commit to my bike, to my body, to my physical health.  I know now that if I put my mind to it, I can commit to anything for a month.  There were nights when I was so tired, had so many other things to do, but even if for just a moment, I made myself sit down and write.  In April I will make myself take a walk or go for a bike ride.  If I am too tired for those, even a few push-ups or sit-ups in the living room will do.  I can and will do this.  I also know that writing has now become a habit and my blogging will continue.  Probably not everyday, but when I want to, when times are hard and there is a memory or story to tell, I will write.

Thank you to those who have followed my blog and supported me along the way.  This has truly been an experience I will never forget.