Phew – half way through this A-Z Blogging Challenge. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. The reason for my confusion is that each day often ends up as a sprint to get my piece written and posted before midnight!
Being the mid-point, it is probably a good time to take stock of how I’m doing – a self-assessment, so to speak. If you recall from my introductory post to this challenge, I very nearly did not take up the baton. I went to sleep on March 31st having decided that this challenge was not for me. I’ve struggled to do, on average, one post per month since I started this blog at the end of 2011, so why would I think I could do almost a post per day for the month of April 2013? I awoke on April 1st and took the snap decision to go for it. What was there to lose?
It turns out there was absolutely nothing to lose – and very much to gain. For starters, I have discovered among the almost 1,800 bloggers who signed up, some absolute gems of blogs – and due to time constraints I’m only scratching the surface. When I have a little more time available, I look forward to exploring more from the list. Furthermore, I discovered some of my Twitter buddies also took up the challenge. It has been tremendous getting to know them and their blogs a bit better. Their creativity, imagination and sheer writing talent are a joy to behold and their encouragement has played a large part in getting me this far.
Have I learned anything about myself so far on the journey? I suppose the main thing I’ve learned is that, to my great surprise, I have been able to sustain a daily post at least for half a month! Some days have been difficult – trying to think of a subject for the post and, more often than is good for my blood pressure, rushing to get the writing and posting done at the last minute. The really difficult bit for me is yet to come – I will be away on business next week so I have to figure out how I deal with that from a blogging point of view. The blog must go on, come what may!!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. That is certainly true for me in relation to this challenge. A key yardstick after this challenge is whether the experience will encourage me to blog more regularly and whether my writing skills have improved. But that’s for later. Right now, am I glad I made that snap decision on April 1st? You bet! To date it has been all positive. I will write again at the end of the challenge about my overall experiences – assuming I make it that far! Actually, I am optimistic that I will get there. To be honest, I’m struggling to think of a downside to the whole thing.
And now, the challenge rolls on, relentlessly. I need to come up with something for ‘O’. Talk to you tomorrow :-)
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* Today's photo has nothing in particular to do with the topic of my post, but I rather like the shot so thought I would use it as decoration. I suppose, if I think about it, if I hadn't ventured up the Wicklow Mountains in the cold and snowy conditions, I wouldn't have gained this panoramic shot. Ok - tenuous link but hey ho!
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