Monday, March 1, 2021

The First Slice


When I heard about the "Slice of Life" writing challenge, I was immediately intrigued. As someone who has tried blogging before...more than once...and struggled to keep it going...I thought this could be just what I need to push me into a daily (fingers crossed!!) writing routine. 

I've always loved to write. I love words. Written, spoke, heard- all of them. Writing in school was always a subject I enjoyed, classes in college that were heavy on the writing didn't scare me and as a teacher, even during the times when teaching writing feels so hard, it still makes my heart smile. But the discipline of writing- not for work or for school but for a real-life audience, or even just for myself has always been a challenge. Writing is quiet and thoughtful and reflective. And so, I get busy and distracted, or I don't know what to write about and the daily or weekly task of writing gets pushed aside for the louder parts of my life. 

But not this month. This month, the quiet is going to win. The therapeutic act of putting thoughts and words on paper (or computer in this case) will become a priority. My hope is that even on the days where I feel distracted or busy, even on the days that I feel like I don't have any words worth sharing. I will still sit at the keyboard and write. I am hopeful it can be a time of reflection, dreaming, rest and joy. Both for me and for whoever reads along with me. 
 

16 comments:

  1. Welcome to the SOL challenge! "This month the quiet is going to win." That line sticks with me. You'll find a mountain of support in this community, it's pretty darn amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I too am a first time slicer. I have wanted to commit to it since I heard of it years ago but there was always a reason not to – I wouldn’t know what to write, what if someone I know reads my words and is hurt by them, I might not have time and then I’ll fail. Thank you for doing this too. J

    ReplyDelete
  3. Welcome to the challenge. Believe me, there are very few participating in this challenge who don't have a day of thinking "I don't know what to write about today. I have nothing left to say." I have found that writing about having nothing to write about is still writing. Have a great month.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to the challenge. Believe me, there are very few participating in this challenge who don't have a day of thinking "I don't know what to write about today. I have nothing left to say." I have found that writing about having nothing to write about is still writing. Have a great month.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome to the SOL Story Challenge. When I retired in 2019 I worried I’d no longer be able to find writing topics. I started my blog to reflect on teaching, but what would I write about if I’m no longer teaching? Happily, a I’ve found lots to say. I jot ideas into my phone notes app so I have ideas at the ready. Today Stacey shared Terje’s post from last year. It’s worth reading. Terje offers lots of ideas to inspire posts, and you’ll find inspiration from other slicers, too. Good luck and have fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm delighted you've decided to take this writing journey. I hope you love being part of this writing community, putting thoughts onto the screen and publishing them every day this month.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Reflection, dreaming, rest, and joy - just reading those words encouraged me to breathe deeply and slow down to enjoy the quiet. Yay for the quiet (shhh!).
    Welcome to our community, Maggie!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I loved the transition from how writing gets pushed aside to "But not this month". I've always loved writing too, and yet it is such a struggle to make it happen, especially now! Welcome to our community!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Maggie,

    Well done for taking the plunge and committing yourself so thoroughly in your first post! I'm part of the Welcome Wagon wheel so I'm here to encourage you that it's worth doing! This is my third year and I haven't really had any difficulty with coming up with something for 31 days...like you I love writing at all levels and yes, you can always find that little bit of time to sneak in the day's slice! I hope you enjoy being part of the community here, this is my third year and some of the contributors feel like old friends to me. I don't have any writing buddies in real life, so it's great.
    Look forward to catching up again!
    Celia

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm so happy you are slicing with us! And your thoughts here are so relatable. The discipline of writing is really challenging ... but when I do it and put the thoughts to the page ... it is so worth it. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so glad you are joining this challenge! I appreciate how you said "the quiet is going to win" because that is exactly what writing does for me too! I look forward to following your journey this month!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I do think you will find this challenge will give you:
    time of reflection, dreaming, rest and joy.
    It's my 8th year and I never think I'll have the time to write and then read and post comments. But then all the reflecting, dreaming and joy keep me going. And in April I rest! So glad you are slicing!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maggie, I am so happy that you stopped by my blog and now we can be Slicer buddies. I read your profile and it looks like we have common interests-colorful pens, baking, teaching. I spent 38 years in public education as a reading specialist, coach before there was such a title, and districtwide administrator. I retired from the public sector and then, started consulting with school districts on Long Island, NY and teaching a summer ELA institute at the local college, Molloy College. Now, I am off to Virginia with my family to be closer to my two granddaughters. Glad to meet you.We are off to a daily writing routine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for stopping by over here too! I am sure being closer to your granddaughters is such a gift! I look forward to reading more of your slices!

      Delete
  14. Welcome to the challenge! All of your reasons for writing resonated with me. I appreciate the practice of this challenge--the daily practice of sitting down and finding something to write about. Getting started, getting a piece to publication, can be challenging, but knowing we have this deadline and that we have so many joining us keeps us going.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Maggie, Sorry I caught your first slice late and welcome to the slice of life challenge. I checked your blog several times, so maybe you posted a bit later. I really hope you enjoy the therapy of putting words to paper and I will enjoy reading along with you. It is very therapeutic and reading some other slices is also a great therapy and gives food for more thought. Enjoy your journey through March.

    ReplyDelete