May is upon us! I’m excited. April was great despite the coronavirus lockdown. I thought I’d reflect on how April went and share what I have in mind for May.
April 2020 challenge
I blogged every day in April. Actually, I started this on March 24th, so I’ve written 38 blog posts since then (39 if you count this one too). There were several reasons for me to explore this:
- Firstly, I wanted to get into the habit of writing every day. Not just writing in my journal but actively sharing my thoughts with the world. That needs a different sort of courage.
- Secondly, this was my way of stepping into my identity as a writer. When I thought about the characteristics of a writer, I remembered what my dance teacher had once told me, “to be a dancer, you have to dance”. She had said this in the context of regular practice being a cornerstone of becoming a dancer. Simple yet profound. To be a writer, I had to write.
- Thirdly, this was month #1 of my #theyearofme project and I decided to explore self-expression via blogging daily. I definitely feel like I’ve expressed a lot of my thoughts that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Some posts (such as this one) were something right out of my journal.
What I learned from blogging every day for 38 days
After writing every day for 38 days, I feel more confident that I can write regularly. It might sound silly, but it’s quite easy to think that the other bloggers out there who churn quality content out regularly are some sort of magicians. Turns out that ‘magic’ is discipline and consistency. Don’t mistake me, I don’t claim to be the most captivating or grammatically-correct writer. I have long ways to go when it comes to my writing skills. But I do feel confident now that I can keep going down this path. I’ve proven to myself that I meet the minimum requirements for becoming a writer – that I can write consistently.
This challenge helped me voice my thoughts and opinions on a myriad of topics. Much of what I wrote were thoughts I’d have during alone time. Some of them weren’t even things I’d actively thought about before and just seemed to pop out of seemingly nowhere. Maybe subconscious stuff surfacing…who knows? Either way, it was interesting.
Writing every day also set me afire with ideas. I’m now convinced that ideas are bountiful and literally everywhere. It almost feels like there’s an ocean so vast that I can a) never exhaust it and b) never even attempt to write/implement it all. I have ideas for writing, ideas for experiments, ideas for having fun, ideas for seemingly everything. It’s like writing got the engine of my brain moving. You’ll read more about some of these ideas as I explore my plans for May.
I don’t know if the two are correlated, but the deeper I got into writing, the more I wanted to take long walks and read books. I also found myself exploring different sounds such as this one that could put me in the right mood for writing. Interesting, eh? I watched Anne with an E on Netflix too (thanks, Feb, for recommending it)! I loved it; do watch it if you haven’t already.
If you’re curious, these are the books I finished reading in April:
- Intuitive Eating
- Your Best Year Ever
- Make Time
- Little Women
- Becoming a Writer
May 2020 focus
I’ve been mulling over what I’d like to do in May for #theyearofme project. Honestly, there are so many possible directions I could go in. Sometime yesterday, it all came to me. I realised that to sculpt a year – or a decade – that I want to live, I need to unearth who I am. Not at a surface level, but at a deep, soul level. I want to know what truly is my heart’s desire…what is it that will make my life a true masterpiece worth living. What will bring me those sighs of satisfaction or make my heart leap with joy? I’d like to know everything, be it big or small.
So…the theme for May is self-discovery. I’m going to share the exercises, questions, insights, and resources as I go along. I may not share all that I discover about myself…but I will definitely share the process I follow so that you can do the same if you so wish. I suspect there will be tons of walking, journaling, conversations with friends, reading, and daydreaming amongst other things. Additionally, I’m going to meditate every day for 30 minutes. Meditation helps me ‘calm my inner waters’ and see what lies at the depths. I’m going to leverage that.
I’m excited! Here’s to a great month ahead, my friends.😃