Five weeks of showing up have revealed what matters most. Through domestic disasters and winter storms, through resistance and revelation, you've discovered truths that transcend any target number on the page.
Remember our meeting coming in a few hours: Wednesday, February 19th at 8:30 a.m. PST.
I started this challenge off with a typewriter and idea roaring off into the ether. Now, another typewriter but now, it’s grounded in actual words mixed with our moments of breakthrough. Tracy recognizing that "remnants of pain, distrust and need for control still remain" - and using that awareness in her work. Anjali finding that revisiting difficult material changes with each pass, becoming less about trauma and more about transformation. Catherine realizing "I am a writer putting ideas and story into the world."
The real measures of our progress as a community:
The courage to write "without perfection," as Jill has learned
The willingness to keep going even when, as Kat shares, obligations feel like "an Ayn Rand version of purgatory"
The understanding that, as Tracy notes, "I have something to say"
The Final Count
This last week isn't about racing to a finish line. It's about acknowledging the wisdom we've earned: that writing happens in imperfect moments, that community sustains us "even in the silence," that showing up changes everything.
✍️ Share Your Truth
What wisdom has this challenge revealed about your work?
Which truth about yourself as a writer surprised you most?
What understanding will you carry forward?
Remember: We came for the word count. We stayed for the revelations. We continue this week with the promise to cultivate our connections.
It's the Flight School Chat Challenge. Simple start up instructions. Caveat, you need to be a paid subscriber, but I believe you all are. And if you're not...come on it's the cost of a cup of coffee. Well worth it. See you at the chat challenge
Thank you for this invitation to stay connected! I look forward to that : )
Week 6, Day 7……finishing on this 8th day, morning…….
I'm a person who usually finds it easy to cry, knowing it's a good release and much needed at times. The past few days I feel the tears knocking at the door, my hand on the doorknob, but I pull my hand away and say, can't go there now…….
My step daughter, Julie, diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday and was admitted to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. I was with her all day till end of visiting hours last night. Gramma still has kids, the longest they’ve been away from their mom.
What is going on? How do I do what I do? How do I stay healthy in the middle of sickness all around me?…..in the middle of so much stress and pressure? I have lots of reasons I believe to be true, but sometimes I sense the truth can be shattered if uttered…..as if the uttering out might dissipate the strength of holding within and just knowing…… not a kind of holding that suppresses, just a holding that feels sacred and humble…….
So, I gently hold a faith and a knowing that I am being held and carried by a strength greater than my own. I will know when the time is here for me to release the tears and they will be good tears, a river of tears….
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 6: Good morning all, and I hope this Monday finds you happy and flourishing. UPDATE on work: Spent the weekend re-reading the last draft of The Home Tree, plotting the revision, and taping the updated posts tucked in Flight School's archive (in anticipating of the 25th Anniversary of Blackbird celebration). SO...busy despite the limped about and ongoing healing process. I have to say...I'm on 🔥 and have to credit part of that being this terrific challenge and you kind, and generous people who've hung on with me.
I'm feeling the warmth of your fire and the the warmth of gratitude. A big warm thank you to all who are here.
I'm home today.......Julie still sick, her mom took the kids for the day, I get a break. Trial postponed till mid March, we all get a break.
Sitka sipped some chiken bone broth yesterday, ate a few hand fed bites of chiken thigh today, I'm releaved and hopeful.
A day of laundry, cleaning out the fridge, cleaning out the truck, cleaning my room, along with more attempts at getting Sitka to eat, without success.....yet......I'm still hopeful.
My writing feels dormant, just below the surface, brewing, hanging out with some tears........ I feel a flood coming. I know what would be best for me to do but resistence, and/or just plain exhaustion, is winning right now, so, I'm heading to make a cup of tea and go snuggle with Sitka while I respond to texts and find a movie to zone out on for tonight. Tomorrow is still unknown.
Week 6, Day 5: Sorry to hear the healing is going slowly, Jennifer. You've been really amazing in dealing with all the pain.
On my end, it's been a productive weekend, but as usual, the good things take time and patience. I've been starting my mornings sunning on the deck... my body's been feeling strangely off over the last few months in a way I've never experienced before, to the point where I am considering seeing a doctor and get some ultrasounds, but in the meantime, I'm hoping some vitamin d will help (sunshine = my husband's panacea). Luckily, there's plenty of sun in Colorado!
I'm trying my best to compartmentalize my concerns, and the last few days consisted of writing during my best hours (finishing an unexpected chapter); exercise (going on a 4-6 mile run/jog); client work at night; hanging out with my son; and reading (I'm really enjoying Brideshead Revisited!). I spent a day doing art and it helped my brain focus.
Anyway, I've got to cut this short and put my son to bed. It's storytime and I'm working on different voices when reading out loud. After we're done reading his books, sometimes he'll request that I read my books out loud (The Good Shepherd, Wuthering Heights, Brideshead Revisited...). That usually lulls him to sleep :)
I love doing different voices when I read to my kids! My husband thinks I'm a nut but it's so much more fun! Good work prioritizing yourself, and don't feel bad/weird listening to your body... they know so much more than we give them credit for. <3
Thank you Catherine! Yes, voices make reading so much more fun!! Though one time, I got too into doing the evil witches's voice for a Rapunzel story, and my son never wanted to read that one again... oops!!
Even though I've still got about 100 pages left in Brideshead, I feel like it's struck a cord (and a nerve). There's a lot to digest. It's made me feel a certain nostalgia about a past life that, I suppose, was never really mine, and also a sadness about this changing world--this sense of alienation and this pull back into old memories. But then, the book also brought out of me a conflicted anger towards tradition, ha! So in a nutshell, I guess lots to unpack... And of course, the language! I started watching the series with Jeremy Irons, actually, and I love that it's so close to the book.
Week 6 Day 5, The weekend activities were a good break from projects. I had a few ideas come up for my story. I made the notes and ready to dive back in tomorrow.
I see that my character like myself still has many control issues to work out.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 5: Happy Sunday! Well, the healing is slow going. Successfully bent over today but wow, standing up again...painful. Ice. Bring more ice. I'll mend and besides, this is totally helping me understand characters in continuous pain. So there's always an upside. How is everyone doing as we wind things down. Today and three more...share, share, share!
Am working on my revision plan for The Home Tree and it's great. That will be my focus for our June Get it Done Challenge. I'm going to do two things this summer, just two: Garden. Finish this Novel!
How inspiring to have only two concrete goals! It's so easy to get lost in lists upon lists of things we need to do and things we'd like to accomplish and then the everyday things that are just never-endingly required. Gardening, and finishing your novel... what a successful summer that will be!
I snuggled with Sitka, my “spruce-tree-cat”, named by Aubanie after the Sitka Spruce tree she use to climb as a kid in the back yard. Aubanie left her first cat with me, Peaches, when she moved out at seventeen years old. Two years later Aubanie moved back home, with Sitka in tow. I inherited him as well when she moved on into her adult life adventure…….
Sitka is now 13 and hasn’t eaten in a week, yet, he still purrs when snuggling on my lap. The days overlap into themselves, lines blurring between morning and night. This is my routine - snuggle with Sitka in the morning and in the evening…….inbetween, I herd around a 4 and 3 year old, as their mother battles the worst ‘flu’ I’ve ever seen.
Last night, as I snuggled with Sitka, the weight of everything caught up to me. I felt the resistance of not wanting to deal with the following day, today, Sunday. I’m still feeling it as I type, trying to stay connected to my writing practice and this writing community. I’ll get through, I’m strong, healthy, and I know - this too shall pass. For now, it’s time to make my second cup of coffee and snuggle with Sitka before I head out the door………
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 4: What an amazing and inspiring (and SMART) class yesterday as part of the mini-class offering on how to inject lift under the wings of your book. So many new people and it's great to see Flight School's wing span expanding.
How is your Saturday going? How is your energy and commitment to your work? Share, share, share. I'm here for you.
My week has fallen apart since our meeting on Wednesday, but I think of this community and my project often! Does that count? I think so. It's Saturday and I have three children playing in the basement, living room, and occasionally my office, but I'm here at my computer and working to get a few words in at least.
Sharing my truth: This challenge has revealed that inspiration to move the story forward comes from every moment of every day. What surprises me the most about myself as a writer is that I am one. Whether I ever become a *published* writer is a different matter, but I'm definitely a writer! The understanding I will carry forward is that there is a well inside me and it's deeper than I knew.
Yes, that totally counts! And from one writer/mother/multiple hat-wearer to another, I so relate to what that feels like. Great work grabbing any opportunity to write--they will add up over time.
I understand the falling apart, good that you are here! And I also have come to understand the "inspiration to move the story forward comes from every moment of every day." Thank you for sharing your truth!
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 3: So great to see you all here, checking in, liking and commenting. Just a few days left. Here, I've started reading my novel in prep for revision AND am still revising the posts in my archive! Also (as if that's not all enough) gearing up to shove all my energy into the 25th anniversary push of Blackbird. Lots of great things going.
What about you? How are you maximizing these final moments together?
And my desire? More time. I want to manage my schedule and capture back that hour or more I spend on my phone scrolling. Oh give me the power of focus and trust that the world is going to be okay without me keeping tabs! An absolute and necessary desire.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 2: Hi all and welcome into our last week. Such a precious time we've shared and I'm eager to make the most of it. Making the most of it means gathering tools from our time that will sustain us until our next challenge in June, and hooking those tools on our tool belt (thanks Tracy). What tools do you need to gather to stay focused? 🗜️🪛⚒️
As my feet touch the floor I am still gathering my thoughts…….how is Sitka this morning, is he still alive? What is it the vet wants me to do today, as per yesterday’s instructions? Give him his nausea and appetite stimulant medication…… how do I get this into a cat who hasn’t eaten in 6 days nor drank any water, that I can tell, in at least 4? I am formulating a plan as I use the restroom and head into the kitchen to make coffee and prepare breakfast for Peaches, and a hopeful spoonful for Sitka.
I decided to crush the tiny little, partial pills, into powder, add a few drops of water, suck it all up in a dropper, and squirt it into Sitka’s mouth. This did not go well. He gagged and convulsed in dry heaves, foamed at the mouth and looked at me as if I were the enemy. I cleaned him up as I let him know how sorry I was………the phone rang….
It was Julie, my step daughter, telling me she had a temperature of 105 degrees throughout the night and woke with a pain in her chest so bad she felt like she was having a heart attack, a possible, rare side affect of cortisone shots. The night before trial started last week she received a bunch of shots in the back of her neck and shoulders in an attempt to alleviate the pain so she could make it through her testimony…….. “Can you come and watch the kids? Graham is taking me to the hospital. His sister will be here until you get here.” Of course, I’m on my way……..
That was yesterday. Julie was not having a heart attack but is still very, very sick, still has extreme pain in her chest and left side, fever is down under a hundred, and thankfully, trial that was supposed to continue this week was pushed into next week do to a scheduling conflict with the Judge. A God send for us all. I was here till 10:30 last night, drove the hour drive home to snuggle with my cat, still alive, still not eating or drinking, returned to Julie’s this morning to help with kids…….they all nap as I type…….
I am thankful for the new tool in my belt........ the - Here in Spite of tool....... and my growing skill in using it! And really loving the wise insight from Patricia...... "life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path."
Week 6, Day 1: Hello! I'm glad to hear that you are healing Jennifer! What you say about wellness and sickness is so true. Sending more healing thoughts your way.
Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to the meeting this morning. I had an appointment that couldn't be rescheduled, and it ran on for longer than planned. I hope everyone had a good discussion!
For the Wisdom of this challenge, I think Patricia has put it really nicely. It's so easy to stop writing or prioritizing a personal project.
There isn't going to be that "perfect time" and you won't always have time.
I am definitely a worrier. Some of it is justified, others quite unfounded. Sometimes my brain runs wild and the worries run unchecked, and it's one of those things I'd be sad to tell my younger self. So, I desire for the strength and joy to keep on creating (because to me, creating is a joy and a privilege), and when I look back in five, ten... hopefully more years, I can think to myself that that was a life well-lived, a time well-spent, despite the daily imperfections, flaws, and challenges.
But I know all that takes proactive work, and it's something I'm learning to do. From one of my favorite books (a memoir!): “After that, work and hope. But never hope more than you work.” - Beryl Markham, West With the Night.
Beautiful desire: I desire for the strength and joy to keep on creating (because to me, creating is a joy and a privilege), and when I look back in five, ten... hopefully more years, I can think to myself that that was a life well-lived, a time well-spent, despite the daily imperfections, flaws, and challenges.
Thank you for the reminder of "creating is a joy and a privilege." Yes indeed, for me as well! And thank you for the great quote!......."But never hope more than you work.” it reminds me of the idea that God is always there with hands outstretched and our "work" is to do our part in reaching and moving towards.
Week 6, Day 1: I'm ready to slow down, be observant and allow the story to guide me. I desire to release control of outcomes in real life and story. Stop for a moment to observe rather than hoping from task to task.
I desire to have an artist date or go swimming. I know these enhance my writing but rarely find time for them.
Artist day! Yes! An important thing I do for myself that "enhances my writing", and a valuable "tool in my tool belt." I highly encourage this for you! : )
Wisdom of this challenge is the encouragement to keep writing. It is so easy to think it too hard, to think you will always have time, or there are so many other things more important. The challenge is to understand that on a very real level, nothing is more important. There are bigger emergencies. And i'm not diminishing them (have my own four-color catalog of chaos myself), just know writing reminds us life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path. Pain can isolate or connect. Writing clearly is a gift all around.
I love this! Great insight here......."life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path" and "Pain can isolate or connect." So very true, thank you!
The wisdom this challenge has revealed about my work is -
I have a long way to go and I’m farther along than I was…….I continue to move ahead, even when it doesn’t appear that I am.
The truth about myself that surprised me the most is -
I have perseverance and composure, even as other’s needs and wants of me continue to stack up, one after the other…… I have improved in my boundary making to protect myself within the intensity of life swirling around me.
As I move forward I will carry the understanding of -
I sincerely want to write this story I have inside, and share it with others…… I continue to show myself that this is true by the work I am willing to put in, even as the doubt and fear nip at my heals…… I understand I am able to to this better as I lean into a community of writers who are doing their own, unique work along side me…..Thank you!
I so very much relate to all of these sentiments! I feel like I'm a long way to go too, and I think it's wonderful that you've brought up having perseverance and composure--I think these are traits that are too often overlooked these days, but are so important. And also the importance of creating boundaries. That's something I'm trying to work on too.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 1: Hi hi hi! I woke this morning, not fully mended but healing well enough that I wasn't wincing with every move. A healthy person has a thousand dreams, a sick one...only one "to get well." And MAN do I get that. I was adopted into a home with a very sick mother, bedridden and going mad from the interactions of her medications. My early life is defined by her decline. And so, I've been lucky in my life to pursue good health with great zeal. To be hurt, as I was, a good reminder of our fragility. Never, ever take for granted wellness.
And with that, I open our 6th week together. Thank you all for being here and lets consider this week a week of gratitudes and hopes. Let's discuss not our woes and worries, (though there are many) but our desires.
What are your worries, now turn that into a desire:
I worry I will make a stupid choice when I feel fully healed and climb up another ladder.
I desire to gain the necessary wisdom to make good choices (and sign up for a ladder training class)!
I worry I will run out of steam, and/or find distractions to divert my attention, as what I am seeing gets harder to look at, harder to wade through. I’m worried I will loose my balance in all this……
I desire to keep my tool belt strapped on in a good way, the one that carries the tools I have gathered over the years, each tool with a purpose, ready to go to work in supporting me when I am loosing steam or succumbing to distractions. With the tool belt strapped on, and my willingness to pull out the tools, and use them as needed, I am less likely to loose the healthy balance I’ve gained over time in my life.
Your final statement sums it up for me. The discipline to stay and continue has shown me how much solace is to be found in slowing down, digging down, and getting closer to the meaning to be found in my writing work. Especially as all around seems to be sliding into disarray, with no sense at all, and I dread to look too closely at the meaning. Thank you.
I resonate very much with what you are saying here, Judith, and it's the "slowing down, digging down, and getting closer" that is giving me some oxygen as I keep going.......inspite of all the intensity that I am swimming in. I appreciate your vulnerability, thank you!
That dread is a real thing, it means you are getting closer than you know. And so, now turn it into an earnest desire: I want to stand in the truth, even the truth I fear I cannot bear. I desire strength to infuse me to hold that truth (sample). Now you...
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 7: Last day all, and I have a surprise for you. To keep your connections going, I've opened a chat here: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/ffdb204d-d8c6-4afe-96fa-800056e227e6.
It's the Flight School Chat Challenge. Simple start up instructions. Caveat, you need to be a paid subscriber, but I believe you all are. And if you're not...come on it's the cost of a cup of coffee. Well worth it. See you at the chat challenge
Thank you for this invitation to stay connected! I look forward to that : )
Week 6, Day 7……finishing on this 8th day, morning…….
I'm a person who usually finds it easy to cry, knowing it's a good release and much needed at times. The past few days I feel the tears knocking at the door, my hand on the doorknob, but I pull my hand away and say, can't go there now…….
My step daughter, Julie, diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday and was admitted to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. I was with her all day till end of visiting hours last night. Gramma still has kids, the longest they’ve been away from their mom.
What is going on? How do I do what I do? How do I stay healthy in the middle of sickness all around me?…..in the middle of so much stress and pressure? I have lots of reasons I believe to be true, but sometimes I sense the truth can be shattered if uttered…..as if the uttering out might dissipate the strength of holding within and just knowing…… not a kind of holding that suppresses, just a holding that feels sacred and humble…….
So, I gently hold a faith and a knowing that I am being held and carried by a strength greater than my own. I will know when the time is here for me to release the tears and they will be good tears, a river of tears….
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 6: Good morning all, and I hope this Monday finds you happy and flourishing. UPDATE on work: Spent the weekend re-reading the last draft of The Home Tree, plotting the revision, and taping the updated posts tucked in Flight School's archive (in anticipating of the 25th Anniversary of Blackbird celebration). SO...busy despite the limped about and ongoing healing process. I have to say...I'm on 🔥 and have to credit part of that being this terrific challenge and you kind, and generous people who've hung on with me.
What about you? How's it going out there?
Week 6, Day 6
I'm feeling the warmth of your fire and the the warmth of gratitude. A big warm thank you to all who are here.
I'm home today.......Julie still sick, her mom took the kids for the day, I get a break. Trial postponed till mid March, we all get a break.
Sitka sipped some chiken bone broth yesterday, ate a few hand fed bites of chiken thigh today, I'm releaved and hopeful.
A day of laundry, cleaning out the fridge, cleaning out the truck, cleaning my room, along with more attempts at getting Sitka to eat, without success.....yet......I'm still hopeful.
My writing feels dormant, just below the surface, brewing, hanging out with some tears........ I feel a flood coming. I know what would be best for me to do but resistence, and/or just plain exhaustion, is winning right now, so, I'm heading to make a cup of tea and go snuggle with Sitka while I respond to texts and find a movie to zone out on for tonight. Tomorrow is still unknown.
Week 6, Day 5: Sorry to hear the healing is going slowly, Jennifer. You've been really amazing in dealing with all the pain.
On my end, it's been a productive weekend, but as usual, the good things take time and patience. I've been starting my mornings sunning on the deck... my body's been feeling strangely off over the last few months in a way I've never experienced before, to the point where I am considering seeing a doctor and get some ultrasounds, but in the meantime, I'm hoping some vitamin d will help (sunshine = my husband's panacea). Luckily, there's plenty of sun in Colorado!
I'm trying my best to compartmentalize my concerns, and the last few days consisted of writing during my best hours (finishing an unexpected chapter); exercise (going on a 4-6 mile run/jog); client work at night; hanging out with my son; and reading (I'm really enjoying Brideshead Revisited!). I spent a day doing art and it helped my brain focus.
Anyway, I've got to cut this short and put my son to bed. It's storytime and I'm working on different voices when reading out loud. After we're done reading his books, sometimes he'll request that I read my books out loud (The Good Shepherd, Wuthering Heights, Brideshead Revisited...). That usually lulls him to sleep :)
I love doing different voices when I read to my kids! My husband thinks I'm a nut but it's so much more fun! Good work prioritizing yourself, and don't feel bad/weird listening to your body... they know so much more than we give them credit for. <3
Thank you Catherine! Yes, voices make reading so much more fun!! Though one time, I got too into doing the evil witches's voice for a Rapunzel story, and my son never wanted to read that one again... oops!!
Oh my gosh, be safe and hold steady. I hope you are well.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts about Brideshead.
Ha ha about your son. I love he loves story. We're all wired for it. See you in class!
Thank you <3
Even though I've still got about 100 pages left in Brideshead, I feel like it's struck a cord (and a nerve). There's a lot to digest. It's made me feel a certain nostalgia about a past life that, I suppose, was never really mine, and also a sadness about this changing world--this sense of alienation and this pull back into old memories. But then, the book also brought out of me a conflicted anger towards tradition, ha! So in a nutshell, I guess lots to unpack... And of course, the language! I started watching the series with Jeremy Irons, actually, and I love that it's so close to the book.
Week 6 Day 5, The weekend activities were a good break from projects. I had a few ideas come up for my story. I made the notes and ready to dive back in tomorrow.
I see that my character like myself still has many control issues to work out.
LOLOLOL, we're all crazy controlling. This is great to see because it hits the relatability thematics necessary for great story.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 5: Happy Sunday! Well, the healing is slow going. Successfully bent over today but wow, standing up again...painful. Ice. Bring more ice. I'll mend and besides, this is totally helping me understand characters in continuous pain. So there's always an upside. How is everyone doing as we wind things down. Today and three more...share, share, share!
Am working on my revision plan for The Home Tree and it's great. That will be my focus for our June Get it Done Challenge. I'm going to do two things this summer, just two: Garden. Finish this Novel!
Can't wait.
Gardening and writing for me! The simplicity of that I yearn for........
How inspiring to have only two concrete goals! It's so easy to get lost in lists upon lists of things we need to do and things we'd like to accomplish and then the everyday things that are just never-endingly required. Gardening, and finishing your novel... what a successful summer that will be!
Week 6, Day 5
I snuggled with Sitka, my “spruce-tree-cat”, named by Aubanie after the Sitka Spruce tree she use to climb as a kid in the back yard. Aubanie left her first cat with me, Peaches, when she moved out at seventeen years old. Two years later Aubanie moved back home, with Sitka in tow. I inherited him as well when she moved on into her adult life adventure…….
Sitka is now 13 and hasn’t eaten in a week, yet, he still purrs when snuggling on my lap. The days overlap into themselves, lines blurring between morning and night. This is my routine - snuggle with Sitka in the morning and in the evening…….inbetween, I herd around a 4 and 3 year old, as their mother battles the worst ‘flu’ I’ve ever seen.
Last night, as I snuggled with Sitka, the weight of everything caught up to me. I felt the resistance of not wanting to deal with the following day, today, Sunday. I’m still feeling it as I type, trying to stay connected to my writing practice and this writing community. I’ll get through, I’m strong, healthy, and I know - this too shall pass. For now, it’s time to make my second cup of coffee and snuggle with Sitka before I head out the door………
Sitka! What a great name for a cat. Great share. Hopefully immune systems will get stronger and stronger. These have been grizzley years.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 4: What an amazing and inspiring (and SMART) class yesterday as part of the mini-class offering on how to inject lift under the wings of your book. So many new people and it's great to see Flight School's wing span expanding.
How is your Saturday going? How is your energy and commitment to your work? Share, share, share. I'm here for you.
So good to hear you had a great class yesterday! Wish I could of been there : )
Week 6, Day 4:
My week has fallen apart since our meeting on Wednesday, but I think of this community and my project often! Does that count? I think so. It's Saturday and I have three children playing in the basement, living room, and occasionally my office, but I'm here at my computer and working to get a few words in at least.
Sharing my truth: This challenge has revealed that inspiration to move the story forward comes from every moment of every day. What surprises me the most about myself as a writer is that I am one. Whether I ever become a *published* writer is a different matter, but I'm definitely a writer! The understanding I will carry forward is that there is a well inside me and it's deeper than I knew.
Yes, that totally counts! And from one writer/mother/multiple hat-wearer to another, I so relate to what that feels like. Great work grabbing any opportunity to write--they will add up over time.
HANG in there. This too shall pass. Pray for angels to help. It will come.
Love this! Words of confidence.
I understand the falling apart, good that you are here! And I also have come to understand the "inspiration to move the story forward comes from every moment of every day." Thank you for sharing your truth!
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 3: So great to see you all here, checking in, liking and commenting. Just a few days left. Here, I've started reading my novel in prep for revision AND am still revising the posts in my archive! Also (as if that's not all enough) gearing up to shove all my energy into the 25th anniversary push of Blackbird. Lots of great things going.
What about you? How are you maximizing these final moments together?
And my desire? More time. I want to manage my schedule and capture back that hour or more I spend on my phone scrolling. Oh give me the power of focus and trust that the world is going to be okay without me keeping tabs! An absolute and necessary desire.
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 2: Hi all and welcome into our last week. Such a precious time we've shared and I'm eager to make the most of it. Making the most of it means gathering tools from our time that will sustain us until our next challenge in June, and hooking those tools on our tool belt (thanks Tracy). What tools do you need to gather to stay focused? 🗜️🪛⚒️
Week 6, Day 2
Here in spite of.......
As my feet touch the floor I am still gathering my thoughts…….how is Sitka this morning, is he still alive? What is it the vet wants me to do today, as per yesterday’s instructions? Give him his nausea and appetite stimulant medication…… how do I get this into a cat who hasn’t eaten in 6 days nor drank any water, that I can tell, in at least 4? I am formulating a plan as I use the restroom and head into the kitchen to make coffee and prepare breakfast for Peaches, and a hopeful spoonful for Sitka.
I decided to crush the tiny little, partial pills, into powder, add a few drops of water, suck it all up in a dropper, and squirt it into Sitka’s mouth. This did not go well. He gagged and convulsed in dry heaves, foamed at the mouth and looked at me as if I were the enemy. I cleaned him up as I let him know how sorry I was………the phone rang….
It was Julie, my step daughter, telling me she had a temperature of 105 degrees throughout the night and woke with a pain in her chest so bad she felt like she was having a heart attack, a possible, rare side affect of cortisone shots. The night before trial started last week she received a bunch of shots in the back of her neck and shoulders in an attempt to alleviate the pain so she could make it through her testimony…….. “Can you come and watch the kids? Graham is taking me to the hospital. His sister will be here until you get here.” Of course, I’m on my way……..
That was yesterday. Julie was not having a heart attack but is still very, very sick, still has extreme pain in her chest and left side, fever is down under a hundred, and thankfully, trial that was supposed to continue this week was pushed into next week do to a scheduling conflict with the Judge. A God send for us all. I was here till 10:30 last night, drove the hour drive home to snuggle with my cat, still alive, still not eating or drinking, returned to Julie’s this morning to help with kids…….they all nap as I type…….
I am thankful for the new tool in my belt........ the - Here in Spite of tool....... and my growing skill in using it! And really loving the wise insight from Patricia...... "life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path."
So many commitments. So much pressure to show up! And you are. Well done!
Week 6, Day 1: Hello! I'm glad to hear that you are healing Jennifer! What you say about wellness and sickness is so true. Sending more healing thoughts your way.
Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to the meeting this morning. I had an appointment that couldn't be rescheduled, and it ran on for longer than planned. I hope everyone had a good discussion!
For the Wisdom of this challenge, I think Patricia has put it really nicely. It's so easy to stop writing or prioritizing a personal project.
There isn't going to be that "perfect time" and you won't always have time.
I am definitely a worrier. Some of it is justified, others quite unfounded. Sometimes my brain runs wild and the worries run unchecked, and it's one of those things I'd be sad to tell my younger self. So, I desire for the strength and joy to keep on creating (because to me, creating is a joy and a privilege), and when I look back in five, ten... hopefully more years, I can think to myself that that was a life well-lived, a time well-spent, despite the daily imperfections, flaws, and challenges.
But I know all that takes proactive work, and it's something I'm learning to do. From one of my favorite books (a memoir!): “After that, work and hope. But never hope more than you work.” - Beryl Markham, West With the Night.
Love this desire for “strength and joy to keep on creating.”
Here are the links! It was a great meeting:
A: https://tinyurl.com/5aw85tm4
B: https://tinyurl.com/y6brdryd
We missed you.
Beautiful desire: I desire for the strength and joy to keep on creating (because to me, creating is a joy and a privilege), and when I look back in five, ten... hopefully more years, I can think to myself that that was a life well-lived, a time well-spent, despite the daily imperfections, flaws, and challenges.
Thank you for sharing the links Jennifer!! <3
Thank you for the reminder of "creating is a joy and a privilege." Yes indeed, for me as well! And thank you for the great quote!......."But never hope more than you work.” it reminds me of the idea that God is always there with hands outstretched and our "work" is to do our part in reaching and moving towards.
Week 6, Day 1: I'm ready to slow down, be observant and allow the story to guide me. I desire to release control of outcomes in real life and story. Stop for a moment to observe rather than hoping from task to task.
I desire to have an artist date or go swimming. I know these enhance my writing but rarely find time for them.
Artist day! Yes! An important thing I do for myself that "enhances my writing", and a valuable "tool in my tool belt." I highly encourage this for you! : )
Loving this: I desire to have an artist date or go swimming. This is working, guys! Feel the energy lift?
Wisdom of this challenge is the encouragement to keep writing. It is so easy to think it too hard, to think you will always have time, or there are so many other things more important. The challenge is to understand that on a very real level, nothing is more important. There are bigger emergencies. And i'm not diminishing them (have my own four-color catalog of chaos myself), just know writing reminds us life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path. Pain can isolate or connect. Writing clearly is a gift all around.
I desire to be free of pain. I desire to have calm amidst chaos. 💕 Ask and it shall be given you. Knock and the door will be opened.
I love this! Great insight here......."life defined by emergencies is only of note if it helps someone else on the same path" and "Pain can isolate or connect." So very true, thank you!
Great reminder that I don't have to stay in reactive mode from the chaos.
The wisdom this challenge has revealed about my work is -
I have a long way to go and I’m farther along than I was…….I continue to move ahead, even when it doesn’t appear that I am.
The truth about myself that surprised me the most is -
I have perseverance and composure, even as other’s needs and wants of me continue to stack up, one after the other…… I have improved in my boundary making to protect myself within the intensity of life swirling around me.
As I move forward I will carry the understanding of -
I sincerely want to write this story I have inside, and share it with others…… I continue to show myself that this is true by the work I am willing to put in, even as the doubt and fear nip at my heals…… I understand I am able to to this better as I lean into a community of writers who are doing their own, unique work along side me…..Thank you!
This sincere desire will be fulfilled. It will. One word at a time.
Thanks! I'm believing it true! : )
I so very much relate to all of these sentiments! I feel like I'm a long way to go too, and I think it's wonderful that you've brought up having perseverance and composure--I think these are traits that are too often overlooked these days, but are so important. And also the importance of creating boundaries. That's something I'm trying to work on too.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! Yes, perseverance, composure, and boundaries....... a life time of lessons to get here and still working on it : )
🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛ Week 6, Day 1: Hi hi hi! I woke this morning, not fully mended but healing well enough that I wasn't wincing with every move. A healthy person has a thousand dreams, a sick one...only one "to get well." And MAN do I get that. I was adopted into a home with a very sick mother, bedridden and going mad from the interactions of her medications. My early life is defined by her decline. And so, I've been lucky in my life to pursue good health with great zeal. To be hurt, as I was, a good reminder of our fragility. Never, ever take for granted wellness.
And with that, I open our 6th week together. Thank you all for being here and lets consider this week a week of gratitudes and hopes. Let's discuss not our woes and worries, (though there are many) but our desires.
What are your worries, now turn that into a desire:
I worry I will make a stupid choice when I feel fully healed and climb up another ladder.
I desire to gain the necessary wisdom to make good choices (and sign up for a ladder training class)!
I worry I will run out of steam, and/or find distractions to divert my attention, as what I am seeing gets harder to look at, harder to wade through. I’m worried I will loose my balance in all this……
I desire to keep my tool belt strapped on in a good way, the one that carries the tools I have gathered over the years, each tool with a purpose, ready to go to work in supporting me when I am loosing steam or succumbing to distractions. With the tool belt strapped on, and my willingness to pull out the tools, and use them as needed, I am less likely to loose the healthy balance I’ve gained over time in my life.
Love this. 🔨🔧🪓 Well done. I'm using this "tool belt" in my post comments today. So smart!
Your final statement sums it up for me. The discipline to stay and continue has shown me how much solace is to be found in slowing down, digging down, and getting closer to the meaning to be found in my writing work. Especially as all around seems to be sliding into disarray, with no sense at all, and I dread to look too closely at the meaning. Thank you.
I resonate very much with what you are saying here, Judith, and it's the "slowing down, digging down, and getting closer" that is giving me some oxygen as I keep going.......inspite of all the intensity that I am swimming in. I appreciate your vulnerability, thank you!
That dread is a real thing, it means you are getting closer than you know. And so, now turn it into an earnest desire: I want to stand in the truth, even the truth I fear I cannot bear. I desire strength to infuse me to hold that truth (sample). Now you...