Today, I got up early to go and help my sister-in-law clean out Dad’s house and get it ready for sale. I went to Tim Horton’s to grab something to eat first (oatmeal and a tea) and picked up a newspaper laying on one of the tables. Being a compulsive reader, I scanned the first section I saw – the obituaries.

The first one that caught my eye was about a woman who emigrated to Canada and spent her life raising her brood and giving her energy to multiple causes, which were listed but I forgot them already. This woman was apparently quite a free thinker and spirit, passionate about her beliefs, and walked her talk. This much I remember!

Then I read the next one – this woman’s obit was much shorter and spoke only of her love of clothes, shoes and golf. In that order.

I remembered more of the details of this obituary because I thought to myself: I hope when I go that I have left enough of an impact that people have more to say about me than that I liked shoes. I know this is not an original thought. I have read somewhere about living your life with your future obituary in mind, but it is good to be reminded of this.

The WB

Great. Now I can’t get that Supremes’ song outta my head.

What a crazy ride this month has been for me…I am sure I am not alone in this.

I did not know when starting this challenge that 2 weeks in I would be scrambling, midweek, to empty out rooms so that a major home renovation project (long dreamed) could begin. One that I would be living through. One that I am still living through, for many weeks to come.

I also did not know that my late husband would pay me a quick visit the day the renovation began (U is for Unbelievable).

Having signed up at the last minute (March 30, I believe) and never having done anything like this before, I went into this feeling pretty confident. I didn’t have any idea what I would blog about and had nothing prepared in advance.  I also had no theme. I wrote almost every post the day of, and somehow always managed to come up with something to say. Because I am stubborn that way.

I was surprised by what came out of me for some of my posts. Some were just meh. It was a good great exercise in producing daily content, inner perfectionist editor be damned.

I tried to visit and comment on other blogs till the sudden start of my renovation made this nigh impossible. I tried to follow the rule of visiting the next 5-10 blogs after me but I found this frustrating. First, it was really hard to find ME. Especially as I kept moving around in the listing (which I was told to expect but made things difficult nonetheless). Especially when I lost track of what # I had been at previously. (Note to self: write these things down next year!)

A search feature would be appreciated, going forward.

Quite a few of the initial blogs listed around me either were not participating or were AWOL altogether, which I was not anticipating. Bad luck? So I ended up scrolling the entire list and diving in here and there, when a blog title took my fancy.

When I did find a blog to comment on, sometimes it was very easy for me to post (hello, fellow WordPress users!) and sometimes it was very difficult, not being all that savvy in the ways of OpenID and the like.

I will strive to be better at this, for the next challenge.

I really did enjoy finding new blogs and authors (looking at you, Susan of Clearing Space for Joy, and also you Joanne of My Life Lived Full).

The voices of these women in particular (and I know there were others because I added them to my Feedly account – sorry for not giving you the shout out you deserve – blame “reno stress”) resonated with me as kindred spirits in optimism, constructive reflection and general fearlessness.

I hope I can continue with frequent posting as it is cheaper than therapy and more productive than hitting the bottle (or someone)…heheheh. KIDDING!

And I have no excuses anymore as I have proved to myself that it can be done.

Looking forward to next year’s challenge already.

Gratefully yours dear Blogging A-Z Team,

The WB

 

From 26 days of blogging to 31 days of meditation (10 minutes per day). I am sure if I dug around the ol’ innernetz pointedly enough I could find a challenge to undertake for every month of the year.

Yesterday on Facebook I found a link to the Mindful in May challenge, which is also a fundraiser. I don’t plan on doing much, if any, active fundraising this time but will donate a sizable amount at the end, to make up for this. Clean water projects – how can I not give to such a cause?

Especially since I am in the middle of a home renovation which includes a new and improved bathroom. In many parts of the world there is no clean water to drink and I have just had a soaker tub installed in my gutted bathroom that I will be filling with warm, drinkable water just to relax in. Insert first world guilt here.

Anywho…I am looking forward to this next challenge and what I can learn from it especially since I got so much out of the blogging challenge.

More on that later, in an upcoming reflections post!

The WB