I started writing this blog on the first day of January this year and I just realized I’ve made it SIX MONTHS!

My rules when I started were write every day for five minutes or more. The day ends when I go to sleep for the night, not at midnight. I’ve only missed two days, and both times I made them up. Both days were missed due to exhaustion/illness, and both days I made up the writing the next morning/day, so I’ve written once for each day.

I started writing the blog for a few reasons: I have always been a writer and I like it, first of all. I teach writing and I believe that a writing teachers should be writers. I required my writing students to write 5 minutes every day without stopping, and so I thought I should do it too. I also just felt like seeing if I could do it.

I’ve learned way more than I ever thought I would. Here are just a few things:

1. Language and writing patterns: I’ve learned that I tend to use very simple language, even though I have a wide vocabulary when I need it. I love to use dashes in sentences, even when inappropriate. I will write in long, uninterrupted sentences when left to my own devices, especially when I’m excited or tired.
2. Topic selection – point one: it’s HARD sometimes to decide what to write about!
3. Topic selection – point two: I’m have been really guarded about what I write about, which surprised me. It’s led me to write about kind of milquetoast subjects at times, and I’m not always proud of those pieces. I tend to have strong opinions about things, but I am not the most self-confident with how I write about them and I don’t want to put it the wrong way and be accidentally offensive, which leads to another thing I’ve learned…
4. World view: my understanding of things in the world is less certain than I feel like it’s ever been. I have some very core values – social justice, education, and compassion, for example – but how to advocate for and live those values is not always clear to me. It doesn’t help that I’m not comfortable with closure or decision making, so I don’t like to pin myself down, for fear of missing a different perspective. Writing things, especially in such a public space, feels very final and I prefer to be tentative. Instead of my writing being a final state, I use it to explore my ideas, which sometimes don’t end up being what I actually think about things. I do the same thing talking – I work through things out loud rather than thinking first, then saying it. This is another reason I think I’ve been tentative and held back with ideas I’ve had for my blog.
5. Education: I have become much more patient with kids who sometimes struggle to get started. I do it too sometimes. But I am also going to talk about how that “I don’t know what to write!” feeling is a hindrance. Start without knowing and let the pen or keyboard and your brain lead you into something. It might not be the best thing you’ve ever written, but the habit is more important than the one day.
6. Habits: I can do this! I didn’t think I’d be able to keep it up. It’s still a challenge sometimes; for example I didn’t want to write tonight because “ugh, I’m tired and I just wanna read stuff and not bother and idk what to even write about aaarrggghh this is so dumb why am I doing this!!!” But here I am, doing it anyway, and I’m glad I did. It’s become much more routine and therefore much easier.

I’m going to try to challenge myself to write more dangerously and push the boundaries of my comfort zone. I’m not certain I will always succeed, but I’m going to keep going.