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Archive of ‘Life Without A Manual’ category

Third Time Is A Charm!

A few nights ago, I was ready to give up on the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I had six posts left to write in three days, and I didn’t think I had it in me to finish. I proclaimed my defeat to my son, who looked at me and said, “I’m not going to let you do that, mom. You have to finish what you started.”

And he was right. Smart kid. Must take after me. 🙂

I’m happy to say that I have finished this blog challenge for the third time. While writing can be a lonely activity sometimes, I know I have many people cheering me on. So, without further ado, there are a few people I want to thank.

Thank you to my family, who reads and comments on my posts and supports my writing. You give me permission to write about everything (to a certain extent), and I appreciate you trusting me with your stories. And thanks for doing the dishes so I can spend more time writing!

Thank you to my friends at Philadelphia Writers Workshop and the Ultimate Blog Challenge community who inspire and encourage me to “blog on.” It is a pleasure and a privilege to be among kind and talented people like yourselves. Special thanks to my writing buddy and accountability partner, Heather. Someday, we will both be published authors; I can feel it!

And thanks to everyone who subscribed to my blog, read them regularly, and/or tweeted them out to their networks. And if you were only able to read one or two posts, I hope you liked them and will come back for more.

This month I tried something new and focused on one topic – my love for books. It turned out I had plenty to say on the subject. While I will return to writing about various topics, books will have more of a presence on my blog to inspire others to read and support their local bookstores.

I have also acquired a regular writing habit and will keep going with more posts all summer long. There is much to write about, and I hope you will be here for it.

In the immortal words of Sylvia Plath,

“Everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

 

Writer or Imposter?

A few months ago, I finished the book “The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life.” I gave it two stars on Goodreads and added it to my 2021 Reading Challenge. That’s about as much as I got out of the entire book. I should have realized that when I read the subtitle because that’s all it was — 200 plus pages dedicated to one habit. The habit is to show up and write, and I do that already.

My issue is dealing with imposter syndrome which is loosely defined as doubting my abilities and feeling like a fraud. I am not a published author (yet), but I’ve been a writer all my life. I fight those thoughts daily by continuing to write and – most importantly – hit publish. And I love to read your comments because my biggest hope is what I put out into the world resonates with others. Everyone who comments on these posts helps me build my confidence as a writer. But when I hear crickets (or see no comments), the self-doubt creeps in. So, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who shared their thoughts and posted them for me to see.

Finishing the Ultimate Blog Challenge is a huge boost in battling imposter syndrome. This is my 29th out of 30 posts for this month. I will write one more before the day is done. And, I want to keep the momentum going, so I plan to attend a writers conference in August. And as an added challenge, I’m in the process of writing an essay to try and win a first-time attendee scholarship. If I win, this will be another arrow in my quiver towards feeling like a real writer. And if I lose, I’ll still attend the conference. I know I’ve already earned a spot in the writing community. And by visualizing my future success, I can keep fighting the imposter syndrome that often weighs me down.

How do you deal with imposter syndrome?

*The image in this blog was taken from Grant Snider’s book, “I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf”

Summer Plans

summer

It is Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer. With all of us fully vaccinated now, there are places to go, people to see, and things to do! Here is what is in store for us this summer.

College Visits – In-person or virtual, we are going back to college this summer! Ready or not, it’s Andrew’s turn to pick a school. I’ve been through this process once already, so I know the drill. But, Andrew is different from my oldest, Jenna, so it will still be new. And admittedly a little harder because he is (and always will be) my baby.

Andrew has different tastes in schools and majors. While she looked at mid-sized liberal arts colleges in the suburbs, he is going for the bigger schools in the city. Jenna is my social sciences kid, and he is into math and sciences. It’s going to be a fun ride, and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds his new home away from home.

Swim Meets – In between college tours, Andrew will join the swim team again this year. It is a joy to watch him in the pool. You can tell he loves it, and his team spirit is contagious. He is going for a pool record this year in breaststroke. He tells me that he will train all summer long to make that dream a reality, and something tells me we will see his name on that wall.

Staycation – Instead of planning a big vacation this year, we decided to replace our deck and patio. It has already been a long process of selecting a contractor, educating ourselves on the difference between pavers and stamped concrete, evaluating the different types of deck material, and applying for local permits. Once the work starts, the whole project takes about two weeks for everything to be completed. And then, we get to pick out new furniture.

If everything goes according to plan, I will lay out on my new deck on a comfy lounge chair, sip a cool drink, and read a book sometime in mid-July.

Down the shore – If you are not from my part of the country, this is what we say when we go to the beach. I live outside of Philadelphia, grew up in South Jersey, and love the shore. After a year like we’ve had, I want to dig my toes into the sand and put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean. And there be plenty of chocolate peanut butter fudge from the Boardwalk to enjoy.

So, what are your plans for the summer?

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