March 31st.
The Slice of Life Challenge is over.
And I did it. Or almost did it.
I wrote 31 posts.
But I didn't technically totally do it,
because I skipped one day
and wrote two posts another day.
But I almost did it.
I wrote approximately nine posts about life at school.
I wrote approximately fifteen posts about being a mom to teenagers,
or about specific conversations I had had with my teenagers.
I wrote two posts about our dogs.
I wrote approximately four posts about life in general.
I wonder, does the fact that I wrote more about parenting teenagers
than I did about school, mean anything?
Does the fact that I wrote more about Son #1 than Son #2 mean anything?
I loved writing every day.
I loved opening my email and seeing that someone had commented.
Tonight, I loved reading back through the slices
And remembering stuff that I had kind of already forgotten.
And I wonder if I could keep slicing all by myself
To save for the boys.
And I wondered why I had not written more for them sooner
because I know there is a lot I have forgotten.
I loved reading other people's slices
and getting to know people around the world.
I loved seeing all of the different genres people tried
and seeing how different authors crafted their work.
I loved hearing the stories of other people's lives.
If I had it to do over again--
I'd be a better commenter.
I did try to comment on three posts every day.
And most days, more than half, I made it.
But if I were going to do it again,
I think I would choose two Slicers to follow consistently
And then vary the third one from day to day.
And I wish I could have figured out a better way
to respond to people's comments.
If there was one thing I would change about Slice of Life
I wish we would have one day, the very first day,
where we wrote slices about ourselves--
who we were, where we lived, our jobs.
Some people had that on their blog,
but some people I wanted to know better.
Thanks, Ruth, for pulling all of us together.
Thanks, Slicers, for committing to writing every day, or almost every day.
Thanks Commenters, for responding with grace and sensitivity and kindness.
It was a terrific month of writing!
As always, Carol, you astound me. I love how you studied your posts to find the topics you wrote most about.
ReplyDeleteI know you've played along with SOLSC for several years and I'm really glad you were back again this year.
And your idea for the initial post? Brilliant! I'm noting it for next year.
Thanks for writing, friend.
I enjoyed all the words, about your boys & your life. Hope we will continue to share the writing on Tuesdays at least. I liked the way you summed things up-a terrific idea!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed getting a glimpse into raising two teenage boys. That will be my life in the future. You have an amazing way of painting pictures with your words and helping people feel what is going on. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat an honest reflection that you deeply thought about going back to day one. You mentioned so many thoughts that I remember thinking over the last month - thanks for capturing it so eloquently. I laughed when you mentioned that you read back through your slices and remembered stuff that you had kind of already forgotten. So true!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your idea about writing about my girls. I do have another blog that I am writing for them. Such a great idea!
Thank you for all your sharing!!!
Michelle
I like your idea for the first post--I thought of that throughout the challenge, but never really wrote it. Next year I will! I have just found your blog recently, but have had a great time reading though your posts. I look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteI started to write letters to my first grandson. They started off very long and then I quit and never did it all for my next 3 grandchildren. A friend of mine and I decided that we were going to write little letters about things that happen to each one of our grandchildren. Just a small collection will mean a lot. I would start with their birth, of course, and then pick out some highlights--nothing fancy, just to show them we've been thinking about them as they grew up. I would like to work on a large piece but I'm stymied on that yet, but writing every day does hook you on continuing to write. I agree on the first post idea of the next challenge.
ReplyDeleteLove your idea of that first post for next year. And now, I'm want to go back through my posts and count up what I wrote about. It sort of feels like writing territories. Enjoyed the picture too!
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