Well…. I did it!  I blogged every single day of November 2020 and I lived to write about it! 

This yearly writing challenge was created by Javacia Harris Bowser of See Jane Write, a networking group for women bloggers, writers and entrepreneurs.  I’ve been a member of this group since I got started blogging six years ago and I’ve loved the information and camaraderie it provides. 

This is my fourth year to #bloglikecrazy.  I skipped last year but wanted to do the challenge this year to get my head back into writing.  It’s a definitely a head game for me.  Each time, after a few days of the challenge, I start to look at everything as a possible story. 

This year, I also did a lot of pre-planning.  I started writing my story ideas in my trusty notebook and the list grew rather long during the month of October.  I also went through my photos to pre-select the ones to accompany each post.  For me, my posts are about the photography as much as the writing.  I always want to be able to include the perfect photos to help me tell the stories I’m sharing.  I love being able to combine my photography with my writing.

For the first week and a half of #bloglikecrazy, I had posts pre-written and my pre-selected photographs all set to go along with them.  I scheduled the posts and was so proud of myself for planning ahead.  But before I knew it, I was out of prescheduled posts and I was struggling a bit to think of meaningful things to write about.  The ideas I had come up with in October either didn’t resonate with me for the challenge or I just wasn’t ready to write about them just yet.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll write about these topics eventually but several require a little more research and time so they are on the back burner for now. 

Then I realized something…sometimes ideas can come to you in the craziest places.  It was a Friday night and I was heading home from work when my husband texted me to ask if I would stop and get him a burger.  He had just had a chainsaw accident and couldn’t drive so of course, I said I would.  While in the drive thru, I was thinking about Eddie and his accident and looking through our text messages when the incident occurred.  Reading through the messages, they struck me as rather amusing.  Yes, the accident was serious, but both of our responses were typical “us.”  As I read through them, I thought – this is what I’m going to write about tonight!  When I got home, I poured myself a tall glass of wine, opened up my laptop and in a matter of twenty minutes I had the story written.  Then I added few photos added from my iPhone (nothing graphic!) and the post was done! 

That Friday night I felt like I turned a corner and writing became easier for me for the rest of the month.  It was a great feeling and over that weekend, I once again was able to write and finish posts for the upcoming week and get them scheduled.  I think the biggest lesson for me this time was to actually schedule time to write and stick to it.  In previous years, I was easily distracted and let other things get in my way and then I would be scrambling at the last minute.  I didn’t let that happen this year. I realized that nothing in my life was as urgent as I was making it out to be and I could take time for myself to write. 

I’m always grateful for the #bloglikecrazy challenge when I complete it and this year is no exception.  It has given me the push I’ve needed to do more, try more and accomplish more.  Thank you for issuing this challenge, Javacia!  I’m so grateful!