The Ebbs and Flows
Lesson 7 of 10 from the 200 Words-a-Day Challenge
In July 2023, I reluctantly accepted a challenge issued by
to write—and share—at least 200 words a day. Word count wasn’t the point; attempting to break through my resistance to sharing my writing was.This small daily task taught me a lot about myself, my creativity, and my writing practice. So I decided to also share my top ten lessons learned from the challenge in the hopes they’ll support you and your practice as well.
Following the pattern and the practice of the month-long challenge, I’m delivering these 10 lessons learned as micro-essays of at least 200 words.
The Ebbs and Flows
We’re told all our lives that everything gets easier with practice, and that was true with the challenge (see related Lesson #s 1, 3, and 5). By mid-month, I’d found my stride and looked forward to writing each night. The more short essays and prompts I penned, the easier they came…until they didn’t.
The reasons they ceased to flow with ease had little to do with my writing process and everything to do with life. And death.
As mentioned in Lesson #4, while I was out of town, the younger of our old cats, 16-year-old Billy The Kid, took an unexpected downturn. He was fine when I left home. (Although I’ve asked myself hundreds of times since, through tears, if that is true. Is there something I missed?)
I never got to say goodbye and my husband, alone, had to get Billy to the vet and, ultimately, bury him. We were heartbroken as was his older ‘brother,’ 17-year-old Black Bart.
That was three weeks into the challenge and even after all the lessons it had taught me up to that point, when the fog of grief arrived, finding joy and new ideas seemed impossible. Still, I had a commitment to fulfill: 200 words a day, no matter what. Life continues even in the face of death.
Lesson #7 of 10
Life’s downturns, the hard parts tend to sneak up and surprise us, even in their inevitability. So, cherish the up times, the easy parts, while they’re around.
Up next: Lesson #8 will give us a little something to help with the ‘ebbs’ in life; watch for it in two days.
"Life continues, even in the face of death." It's such a juxtaposition, to wake up one day with a loved one (human or pet) just gone while time keeps flowing. You really hung in there through a hell of a month, and you deserve credit for that. <3