My name is Carol and I was a night slicer.
It's not that I really wanted to be a night slicer
I much prefer to write early in the morning.
I've always been a morning person. Even now, with nowhere to go, I'm almost always awake around 5:30. I think better, and write better, early in the morning.
But somehow, that just hasn't worked for me this year. In January, I committed that the first part of my day, every day this year, was going to be devoted to growing my spiritual self. Specifically, to reading my Bible and praying. I guess I could have written after that, but at the first part of the month, there were papers to read, and lesson plans to finish, and well, you get it. I was already getting up at an hour my sons affectionately call the "butt crack of dawn" and I didn't want to get up any earlier than that.
So I wrote at night.
And then, when the school closure happened, I think it was on March 13th, I really thought I would switch over and write in the morning. But somehow, it seemed like there was always stuff to do-- meetings and conversations about remote learning, talking to my mom, who has been in solitary confinement at a senior center for the last thee weeks, online Spanish class, etc., etc., etc.
So I sliced at night.
And now, it's March 31st. The month is over. And I'm writing my 31st slice. At night.
My name is Carol and I'm a night slicer.
And truthfully, I don't think it was that big a deal.
I wrote every night. I tried to write something reasonably significant. And I always commented on at least ten slices. Usually, I tried to comment on the last ten slicers because I knew they probably wouldn't get very many comments.
And I'm not sure why, but this year I felt like there was kind of a stigma about being a night slicer
Like people who were night slicers are somehow slovenly, or not serious about their writing, or maybe just lesser citizens of the slicing community.
And I am really not sure why people thought that.
My name is Carol and I was a night slicer.
Well, I don't think the night slicers are slovenly, or lesser slicers! Possibly, that is because I am both a night person and on the West Coast,so the deadline for me is only 9:00pm! I will say that I noticed a distinct decrease in the number of comments that I have received on my slices compared to previous years. I even had two slices with no comments at all, which has never happened before! I think that this was less about a stigma and more about all of us being overwhelmingly preoccupied with the virus and trying to figure out life with all the closures, and how to suddenly become an online teacher (and for some of us, while also suddenly teaching our own kids). I think people who wrote earlier in the day simply did not have the mental energy to go back and make more comments.
ReplyDeleteI admire your dedication to your morning rituals, though! I hope you and your family and your isolated mom are able to stay healthy. Take care!
haha! My name is Shannon and I am also a night slicer! Aside from being a morning person, you described my feelings about being a night slicer this month too!
ReplyDeleteI really loved this post! high five for night slicing our way through the month!
Thank you for a wonderful month of night slicing! Even though I read your slices at "the butt crack of ...".
ReplyDeleteI always look at the previous day's sign-up when I comment in the mornings so that I can be sure to visit some of the night slicers. It's certainly true that publishing at night means fewer comments. I do wonder about the stigma with night slicing, because I did see a lot of that this year--slicers apologizing for posting later in the day, for instance. But we all have different times of day that work best for us to write and publish, and I hope next year all times can be good times to slice!
ReplyDeleteNice blog posst
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