As I embark on this 500+ word per day challenge, I realize that there are two ways to go about this:
1. I could ramble on for 500 words each day and leave it at that. Kind of a “just wing it” sort of approach. Or, I could..
2. Strategically plan out my posts (not over-obsessively, although I may get to that point from time to time) and have an idea of what I’d like to write about as I begin each day or week. Think “themes” or “hot topics”.
I’m kind of leaning towards the latter, although I love the spontaneity of being able to just wing it, or being able to just go with the flow. I’m actually using this challenge as a way to develop my writing skills and to be able to figure out what direction I’d like to take my blog.
You see, I’m a teacher, a learner, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a dreamer, a realist, a Christian, and a science geek. I love reading. I love writing. And as somewhat of an introvert, I feel comfortable sharing my life in this setting – where I don’t really have to “see” my audience. Overall, I hope that sharing my life experiences cause people to laugh, to think, to be happy, to be honest with themselves, to be able to face the tough times, to be welcomed, to know they are not alone, to know that they are loved, and most of all to be inspired to take action.
If I could wrap that up and present it to you with a neat bow, that would be my dream gift to you.
But life is not perfectly wrapped up with a nice neat bow. Life is messy. I promise you there will be things falling out of that gift box. The wrapping paper will be torn in places (possibly where my kids stuck their fingers into the “soft parts”) and there may be wrinkles and coffee, tea, milk, or water stains in certain areas. And when you open the box, you will probably find some broken things in there. Some pieces were glued perfectly back together and you can hardly notice the cracks, but some others may be more obvious as they are missing some fine shards and are chipped and rough. You may find some other pieces, hastily refastened using pieces of Scotch tape ready to fall apart again at any moment. Some of you might be keen enough to look so closely you find those broken pieces that I tried to hide under the nicer things. Those I try to keep hidden for they are not meant to be seen, but they are still a part of me. Waiting to be fixed.
That is the basis of my writing. On Day 2 of this writing challenge, we are encouraged to write down our goals for this challenge. Through it, what do we want to accomplish. Well, friends, what I want is this:
To be able to give this gift to you through my words. And it is with a humble heart that I hope you accept it.
~Jenn
