April 10, 2020 7:00 am Published by

Thank you for playing along with me as you read my blog. I have no idea whether anyone reads it, other than the occasional note from someone. Some weeks several people reach me, and it lets me know it matters to someone and I am invigorated by knowing it’s not completely self-serving.  

When I took Seth Godin’s challenge over a year ago, I turned a corner on a commitment with writing. To write with frequency really is challenging for me. As I’ve promised, I’ve kept up with the five blogs per week faithfully, and it’s been an interesting experience. Every 50 blogs I share my lessons for this leg of the journey, so here is what I’ve learned logging 300 blogs, 30% of the way to the first 1,000. 

  1. I look forward to writing many times, this wasn’t the case in the beginning. 
  2. What I sit down to write is often not what I end up writing about. It’s the coolest thing, I start with an idea, then begin to write and it takes on a life of its own. 
  3. When I’ve gone back and read some of my blogs, I liked them. That’s new! 
  4. Like anything, it’s a practice. Until I have my 10,000 hours in, it won’t come nearly as naturally.  
  5. Some of my blogs are terrible. I’m okay with it. Not all efforts produce works of art. I’m proud of the practice, and when I wrote it, it served a purpose for me. Acceptance is a beautiful thing. 
  6. When I receive positive feedback from people who’ve read it, I feel like it matters and affirms it’s worth doing for me. When I can help anyone, it’s worth it.  
  7. Now that I copped to #6, that’s not why I started this challenge. It’s easy to do things I love. Writing wasn’t one of those things, so it was truly a challenge for me. Whether or not anyone benefited was bonus points. The bonus points are #6!! 
  8. Sometimes I need to see the message I’m writing more than I realize. It’s like unraveling a plate of spaghetti; I can find the beginning and end of a thought when I’m done. 
  9. By committing to writing daily, I’ve become a better observer and learned to capture wisdom, insights and ideas as they happen. This is a gift beyond the writing. 
  10. It gives me purpose and a way to capture great reflections during COVID-19. I’m truly grateful to be documenting my experience. 

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