__________________________________________________
The March Slice of Life Story Challenge
hosted at the Two Writing Teachers.
Join us for a month of writing!
But, can I be honest with you? I struggle with missing out. Not being able to read all 300+ slices. Not being able to comment on all the "this is my first slice" posts. Or, not to be able to welcome every first, second, or third year and beyond writer. Not being able to find old slicing friends. Or not being able to make new slicing friends with everybody else. There is this addiction of "I'll just read one more...Oh, there's so-in-so, I'll stop by her post, then I'll close the laptop..." Time gets away from me, but there are still many stories to read!
__________________________________________________
I thoroughly enjoy this slice of life challenge. The daily writing, capturing moments, sharing stories, connecting with amazing people. This is year eight for me, so you know that I adore spending the month of March with you all.
But, can I be honest with you? I struggle with missing out. Not being able to read all 300+ slices. Not being able to comment on all the "this is my first slice" posts. Or, not to be able to welcome every first, second, or third year and beyond writer. Not being able to find old slicing friends. Or not being able to make new slicing friends with everybody else. There is this addiction of "I'll just read one more...Oh, there's so-in-so, I'll stop by her post, then I'll close the laptop..." Time gets away from me, but there are still many stories to read!
Trust me. I have let (some of) that go. I have learned to balance my mom-work-oh-it's-March-I-have-to-write every day life. The writing is important to me, but the reading of your slices is ever-so important to me as well. The power of words that connect us and allow our lives to intersect.
But I still. Feel. The. Guilt. As I slowly scroll through the names and blogs and tantalizing titles that I can't resist ...
I know I'm not the only slice of life writer with this additional challenge. Right?!? How do you manage the guilt? I know what you are going to tell me: Just do what you can. It's okay. There's a Welcome Wagon. There are plenty of slicers to go around to leave comments.
But I want you to know: I value the writing, but I also value this community that brings amazing stories after amazing stories.
And ... I don't want to miss your story.
I know I'm not the only slice of life writer with this additional challenge. Right?!? How do you manage the guilt? I know what you are going to tell me: Just do what you can. It's okay. There's a Welcome Wagon. There are plenty of slicers to go around to leave comments.
But I want you to know: I value the writing, but I also value this community that brings amazing stories after amazing stories.
And ... I don't want to miss your story.
You are amazing! Thanks for caring so much about this writing community. I'm so grateful for all the leaders who are trying their best to get to everyone! I feel the love!
ReplyDeleteLast year I did some commenting math and found that if you take three minutes for the average number of posts, which was 285 the day I did this, it would take 14 hours to read and comment on all of them. That helped me to eliminate some of the guilt! But I am with you on this - so many I want to read and not enough time to get them all!
ReplyDeleteyes! I do the best I can to get to as many as I can, but always I have FOMO over it!
ReplyDeleteYou do what you can and then you stumble upon those posts that touch you deeply and realize you are indeed missing some insights into this community.
ReplyDeleteI feel this frustration too. I comment a lot, but I still don't feel like it's enough! And I know I'm missing slices that would really matter to me if I could only find them to read! But with 300+ posts a day, it's just impossible. I know how much those comments mean to new slicers, so I take extra care to read and comment on those posts. And then I'm trying to find my old favorites and connect with long-time blogging friends and then I remember all the things I'm supposed to be doing while I'm commenting instead. I had a long to-do list yesterday morning--and somehow disappeared into the Internet rabbit hole for TWO HOURS reading and commenting on blogs. When I finally came up for air I felt disoriented--where did the morning go??
ReplyDeleteI feel it too. With so many slicing, it's really hard. I've been keeping a list of who I visit each day, trying to make sure I get to old friends and some newbies. But wow. I tend to comment on those who post to Twitter because I can find them easier.
ReplyDeleteThe mom guilt can be overwhelming at times. I am constantly balancing my itch to "work" with my love for being a mom. My children are old enough now (12 and 14) to understand my dedication, but I know sometimes I get lost in my own little self-improvement world. :) This is my first year "slicing"! I enjoy the challenge each day.
ReplyDeleteI know how much the comments are to me when left on my blog, so I try as best I can to reach each of those that I always read, then try to find someone new and then something strikes me that I should read just one more. One can truly get overwhelmed with you see 300+ slicers. They are each important, but we can only read and comment until life calls us to come back. Love ya, Mom
ReplyDeleteYup, I'm on that guilt journey too. While it is awesome that so many write, it also exhausts me, and I'm not working full time with two little girls. There is no easy way out of this dilemma. Leigh Ann's calculations help a little with the guilt.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if my feeling is necessarily one of guilt, but more one of panic. I am so afraid that I am going to miss a post or forget to comment on others' work that I psych myself out. And, it is purely self-induced. Nobody shoved me into the SOL challenge. I agreed to it. But, in reality, I have to ask, why do I worry myself so much about it? And it has only been 4 days...
ReplyDeleteI feel that too, sometimes. I want to be supportive of others in this community. I know how much it matters to me to know that someone is reading my writing. But nobody can comment on 300 posts! Also, I feel this a bit with #cyberPD too. I'm worried that I have missed the most insightful post - the one that will help me understand something in a new one, or dramatically shift my practice. :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate, and I don't even have young kids at home! I try to read as many as I can, and I try to balance between reading people that I have read for years and reading people that are brand new to slicing, but even so …
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your post today. I try to read the three before me and then three random and then a few people I read all year,,,but I cannot know 300 slicers. THEN I get excited because somehow, there are a LOT of people doing this!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. I always want to read more than I have time for. Like Carol, I try to balance reading posts from people I know and getting to know new writers. Happy Writing!
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's awesome to see how big this community becomes in March, but sometimes I prefer regular Tuesdays, when the flood of posts is not quite so overwhelming! My other guilt is also trying to decide if I want to write at the expense of other things. (Make my daughter play by herself so I can post in the afternoon and still run on the evenings I want to run? Or resign myself to not posting every day so I can still spend more quality time with her?) However we do it, it's awesome, though, right?
ReplyDeleteOh Michelle, I love you a little more, if that was even possible. I so appreciate your dedication to the challenge and that you share your voice here. To be honest, I don't deal with the guilt very well at all, by that I mean, I don't deal with it at all. I just keep hoping it might go away. Good luck on reading all those slices. And yes, you are right, I am going to tell you to just do your best. I'm sure you will.
ReplyDelete