Be on the lookout on my author page whitneyncason.com under the hashtag #XD30 for all of my short stories in the month of June!! And if you need some motivation, join in on the challenge!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Essay #9, Writing and Taking Leaps of Faith
Sometimes you can’t find anything to write about, except the process of writing itself. As you all know, I have been completing a challenge that is hashtagged #52essays2017. It is basically where I write one essay a week for the entire year. So far, I’m nine weeks into the new year, which means I am 9 weeks into writing essays. What I thought would be an overwhelming feat, is actually pretty exciting and eye-opening for me.
When I was first notified of this challenge, it immediately intimidated me. I thought to myself, “there is no way I will be able to write 52 essays.” Because of this, I slept on it, and told myself that if I never take a leap and try something that I think is virtually impossible, how will I ever know if it truly was impossible? I decided at that moment, that #52essays2017 would not only help me accomplish what I thought was impossible, but also help me grow and develop as a writer; which is the most important thing to me.
Taking on this challenge has also helped me learn something about myself; something I probably never would have admitted to myself before. I never take leaps when the opportunity presents itself. The old me (more like the 2016 me) would have saw this opportunity and ran in the opposite direction. I would have focused on the reasons why I couldn’t do it, instead of the reasons that it would benefit me in the long run. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to prove to myself that I could push myself as a writer.
Writing essays was never something I thought I could be good at, but through this experience and finding other writers and bloggers; I have noticed that I am not alone. I am not the only one who has writing growing pains, or has bouts of intense writer’s block or horribly (at least what we think, lol) written blog posts or essays. I am in a community of human writers, who also have taken a leap to push themselves past what they think was their maximum point, and writing at least once a week about anything we put our minds to.
This essay in particular counts number nine. I still cannot believe I’ve successfully completed nine essays that range from talking about my family to my career. What I thought was going to be difficult, has actually been a pretty fun challenge to take on. I gave myself a challenge to write an essay, read three essays, and follow at least two other WordPress bloggers from this point on. I have read some great essays that have either sparked ideas for myself to dive into or touched me on a personal level.
Challenges like this really help you to realize and discover that there are so many great writers in this world. Some of the most wonderful storytellers are out there, writing blog posts and personal essays, sharing their innermost thoughts and memories. I’m proud to say that almost three months later, I am still amongst those willing to find the words to keep telling my stories.
This week, I dedicate this post to those who are still holding on to the process; and still allowing this journey to push our boundaries, help us grow and push past our comfort zone and find a new level of growth.
This post is for all the writers who are still writing, despite the challenges that the writing process may face. We’re in this to win it! Don’t give up, we got this! nine down, 43 to go!
To take a sneak peek at any of my previously read essays, check out the links below:
Week #1 – The Intro
Week #2 – Finding Our Way Back
Week #3 – A True Love at First Sight
Week #4 – Social Media Addicts Anonymous
Week #5 – Ramblings
Week #6 – A Lesson on Lying
Week #7 – Social Work: Helping Others Turn the Page
Week #8 – The Awkward Bird
Solitude
If I ever need to get away, this might be where you would find me. The one place I feel comfortably isolated, where I can escape the world for a little bit. I force myself to leave the rest of the world behind and focus on myself. This is the one place where I can enjoy the beauty of life. When my world is closing in, I escape here and I come out feeling brand new.
Beach season is approaching and I’m over the moon excited.
#Yoga4Growth
So, in my quest for a newer, more flexible me, I have began a #Yoga4Growth challenge for February. So far, I’m on day 5, and have gotten through my first week of yoga!! I am really enjoying it and it gives me some time to myself to unwind and meditate after a long day.
I plan on switching up my routine, and start going to the gym early in the morning, and doing yoga and meditation at night. Lately, I have been in a rut with wanting to go to the gym, but just being too exhausted from work during the day to even muster up enough energy to make it to the gym. I think adding this component to my fitness journey is definitely helping me keep my body flexible and helping me to relax and power down from long hectic days at work!
Here are the poses and ladies to follow during the journey on IG:
@ladydork
@koyawebb
The #GirlLove Challenge
I was recently tagged in the #GirlLove Challenge by a blogger who I admire and enjoy reading very much, Pearls Before Swine. I think it is an awesome challenge, and I decided to participate in it myself. I think it is great to have challenges such as these, that we can help uplift and empower one another in the blogging world. Each of the people I will be honoring today has something different to offer me as I read their blogs every day. So, here are my top 5 favorite blogs:
Pearls Before Swine
https://thepbsblog.wordpress.com/
I couldn’t do this challenge without honoring this lady. She is definitely an awesome blogger to me! I love reading her blog because most times, I usually find something I can relate to. I feel like we are somewhat of the same person, but yet I want to learn so much from her. I was very grateful for her to mention me in her #GirlLove challenge post, so I felt it only necessary to mention her as well, because she definitely shows love and is a great person from what I have seen so far.
quixoticmuses
I just recently started following Quixoticmuses, and I feel like her blog will be one that I will enjoy reading from here on out! I love a good short story, and I recently bought her book (which is a great read also, highly recommended). I always try to support fellow authors and she is definitely one that I see will go pretty far! 🙂
Brown Book and Green Tea
http://brownbooksandgreentea.com/
I also just recently started following this young lady’s blog as well, mainly because we love 2 of the same things, Green Tea and books! Lol, I will admit that her title alone drew me to her blog and I knew I would be following as soon as I saw it. Being a book lover myself, I am always looking for a new book to read (as if I need anymore lol), and her blog is a great place to go for book reviews, and also reviews on some good tea! 🙂
Did I mention she is super cool, because we share the same name?! Lol. 🙂
Black Millenials
Black Millenials is what I like to call my “no filter” blog. She speaks for the 20-somethings in this world that might be a little complex than most. When I read her “About Us” page, this was my favorite statement: “We can love the classic art of hip hop while turnin up at the club. We can read and internalize the works of James Baldwin while we glimpse at an episode of Empire.” I immediately thought “Oh snap! This is me!” Lol. For that, I make sure I visit her blog regularly to see what she has to say on the world’s most controversial topics to date.
Nikki Skies
https://nikkiskies.wordpress.com
I am not sure what to say about this blogger, except that I think she is an exceptional writer and poet, and I would love to see her perform either a poem, play, or anything one day! I look at her accomplishments and hope to one day have that type of success. She is just an awesome woman and blogger all around from what I can see; and I’m a poetry lover, so when I saw she wrote poetry, I was already clicking the follow button! Lol. She also has several books published, that I have on my list to buy this year :)…
Overall, I enjoy each one of these ladies and what they bring to my blog life. I think having all 5 of these ladies in the same room, would prove to be a very uplifting and enlightening experience for all parties involved!
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Now, for all of you all that would like to participate, here are the rules for the #GirlLove Challenge:
- Tell your followers who inspire you, a famous woman who may be dealing with negativity on a daily basis.
- Tell your followers who inspire you in real life, a woman you always interact with.
- Tag five women bloggers who you love. Compliment them and tell them why you love them, and comment under their latest post with the link to your #GirlLove post!
If you get tagged, do the post on your own blog. If you want to do it anyway, do it anyway! Add the tag ‘Girl Love’ to your post, so we can see them all! Let’s start 2016 with LOVE for each other!
