No, no, no, it’s NaBloPoMo. Huh? Yeah, I know, not your everyday acronym. It stands for National Blog Posting Month, and the goal, if you sign on, is to post a blog a day for the month of November.
Write a blog post. Every. Single. Day. Whatareyoukiddingme? You must be outside yo’ mind!
My thoughts exactly. Ever since I first heard of NaBloPoMo’s existence, I never imagined that I could (should?) write something blog-worthy every single day for a month straight. 30 days straight of blog posts? I probably don’t publicize 30 blog posts in a year! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t have thoughts …
The truth is that most of the time I am clueless about how to develop a manageable amount of those thoughts into a blog post. Other times I wonder if I have the time or energy to try.
Then this past summer, my life blew up. Mind you, I blew it up – myself, intentionally – but the fallout is no less disrupting for me being the cause. Post-explosion was spent stuffing my life into one bedroom of the home I grew up in. Have you ever tried cramming 51 years of life into a bedroom designed to hold only the first 18 (maybe) of them? Let’s just say, it’s a good thing I was already contemplating minimalism, and leave it at that, shall we?
Wait, where was I going with this? Hmm, that would be the question of the year. I’ve been asking it of myself ever since I packed up my stuff and drove away from the life I had grown accustomed to. For all of its frustrations, it was the life I built for myself. It was what I chose to live, do, and be for 28+ years, and though I’d like to find a place for regret, I can’t do that and feel the intense joy my kids bring me. Every. Single. Day. Amazing what miracles can arise out of a wasteland.
Which reminds me of writing – no, not the wasteland, the miracles! For a while now, Rarasaur (or Rara, or just plain Ra) has been one of mine – a real live, walking, talking miracle (no, not because she’s a dinosaur, silly!). If you are unfamiliar with WordPress’s most beautiful and famous Dino, you should check her out. Rara’s stories are amazing (and true – born out of her life experiences), but her ability to put the stories into words, that is the inspiring part – and such incredible words! She should have a warning label posted on the front page:
WARNING: Posts by Rarasaur can be gloriously, amazingly, incredibly, deeply heart-wrenching, enlightening, and sometimes, gut-busting. Enter the Dino Domain at your own risk!!
I take the risk frequently because I adore a challenge – which finally brings me to the point: I’m joining in the 2015 November blog-every-damn-day thingy thanks to Rarasaur’s challenge to give it a go. Well, that’s the first reason.
But, here’s the thing: when you blow up your own life – even intentionally – you start to wonder, “What the hell was I thinking??!” I mean, you know you had to and all, but the question arises: “Now what? Where does one go after the dust settles? For that matter, does the dust ever settle?” My default response to dust has always been, “Think I’ll go play a game.” Yep, a master of escape, who knew? And this method of coping has gotten me exactly … nowhere. A lot of pointers in my life right now are screaming “CHANGE” (ya think?). So, I thought, What the hell have I got to lose? I need to move forward, and adding a new challenge to my life is one way to do that. This challenge will push, pull, and stretch me. I need that right now.
And, discipline. There’s that. Making myself do something every day, like it or not, has value. Life-explosions are my favorite excuse to let the discipline slide. Don’t get me wrong, removing shrapnel can be difficult and time consuming … the healing can take even longer; but wounds are no excuse to stop moving – if nothing else, Rarasaur has taught me that!. There’s no going back, so forward it is. Post-explosion, everything ahead is new anyway, so why not take on a blogging challenge? Who knows, it could be fun … ? 
Hey, at least there’s a badge involved – two of them, in fact!
Maybe you now feel inspired to write a post a day yourself. If so – GO!
Peace,
C
P.S. I know you got thoughts!
If you are participating in NaBloPoMo, how come? What inspired you? What do you hope to accomplish?
If you are not participating in NaBloPoMo, how come? What’s stopping you? Need some inspiration? Check this out.
Of course, our favorite Dinosaur has loads of writing prompts to help us keep going! Thanks, Rara!
ripplesofinsight.net 