River Brown

I enjoyed sampling from among the hundreds of posts and reading what others wrote during the SOL2018, the March Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers (link) , I enjoyed writing responses to a half dozen or so blogs each evening, sometimes as much or more than I enjoyed writing mine.  This was a new experience in the five (six?) years I have participated in SOL.

I appreciated the range of people who teache — the variety in what they were doing, background, age and experience.  Some were retired, some working in school leadership, and some starting their careers.  They offered daily poems, letters, memoir bits, snapshots, anecdotes and occasional rants.  They wrote of families, books, moments with students, of weather, weariness, and realizations.

Some were timid new participants who wrote with hesitation and some were seasoned, adept writers.  There were posts on the level of I-got-to-the-desk and that’s all I have left to give, but I wrote and then there were inspired, artful pieces of writing.

Maybe what I enjoyed most was tuning in to the voice of each.  Unique.

It was also nice to get comments on my writing, empathetic and sympathetic words that let me know I’d been read and heard.  I hope that is how people felt who read the comments I wrote on their blogs.

Having an audience for writing is at once daunting but also energizing.  This year being a reader and listener has been delightful for me.