Write 31 Days?

October is here, and with it comes a pretty big month in the blogging community: Write 31 Days. As is pretty obvious from the title, bloggers from all over the world commit to post something EVERY DAY.

I will admit something to you: I am a Write 31 Days failure. A Write 31 Days dropout. A Write 31 Days…..well, you get the point.

For the past 2 years, I have quit Write 31 Days about halfway through. It has been impossible for me to keep up.

I can hardly find the time or motivation to write at all lately. Here are my excuses:

1-By the time I do have time to write, I am exhausted. I do a lot during the day, ya’ll. By the time I get the kids in bed, I just want to zone out and not answer any more questions and not use too many of my remaining brain cells.

2-I no longer know what to write about. I decided a while back that I didn’t want to write too much about my children anymore, which is why I changed my blog title from “Mommy in Bonlee.” I felt like they deserved some privacy, and even though I said I didn’t care, I don’t want them to find this blog one day and be embarrassed. Since I spend most of my time with Charlie and Maddie, I am finding it difficult not to write about them.

3-I feel like what I have to say is insignificant. When I open up the computer to write, I usually spend a minute scrolling through Facebook or checking my e-mail first. I see things about ISIS and Syrian refugees and friends and family with cancer, and I just can’t write after that. I imagine a mom, just like me, laying down with a hungry child to comfort them, or worse. And me telling you about my home’s transition from summer to fall just seems so….petty.

4-I know that people read my blog, and I find that intimidating. Believe it or not, I am a pretty private person. Before I shared my blog on Facebook, only maybe 5 people read it, and I felt a freedom that I no longer feel. Knowing that my mom, my friends, my church family, and people in my community read what I write is very humbling. The thing about writing is that the writer has to bare a piece of their soul each time they write, and I am hesitant to do that with people so close to me. I always have to take a deep breath and say a quick prayer before I press that “publish” button.

I have been praying about this for months: that God would give me something to write about, that he would use my words for his glory, that he would help me decide if I would attempt Write 31 Days this year, and that if he wanted me to he would give me some inspiration. A couple of weeks ago, after carrying Charlie to his bed at 11:30, I was having trouble falling asleep. All of my excuses for not writing were running through my head when this thought came to me: “Just write 31 days.”

I feel certain that God was speaking to me, saying, “Laresa, just write! Don’t worry about all of those things. Just write something, anything….for 31 days.” So I’m going to do that. I am going to use these 31 days to just write about what inspires me, about what God leads me to write.

I have an old journal that I kept in 4th grade. In it, I had written every single day. But you know what I wrote every day? A weather report That’s right. January 4th: “Very cold today with some freezing rain.” July 18th: “Hot day today.” Every once in awhile there was mention of a boy named Zack, but I don’t really remember him now.

While I admire my 4th grade tenacity, I am hoping my 31 days won’t be a repeat of that 4th grade journal. But I’m certainly not closing any doors. Everyone needs to know the weather, right?

Here are my other posts for my #Write31Days series:

Day 1-Intro-You’re here! 🙂

Day 2-When God Slows You Down

Day 3-Weekly Photo Challenge: Boundaries

Day 4-It is Well…

Day 5-Maddie’s World

Day 6-Laresa and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad….Whatever

Day 7-Laresa Sits Down for Lunch

Day 8-Monkey Bread

Day 9-A Mama’s Packing Woes

Day 10-Women of Faith

Day 11-On Prayer

Day 12-Happy Place

Day 13-The Good in it All

Day 14-The Weather

Day 15-Freedom and a Giveaway!

Day 16-An Oxymoronic Drive

Day 17-Buttering Bread

Day 18-On Sabbath

Day 19-(Extra)ordinary Whispers

Day 20-A Monday on a Tuesday

Day 21-The Henriettas and the Girls (And Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up)

Day 22-Some Found Pictures

Day 23-Careful

Day 24-Peace in the Full-Swing

Day 25-The Family of Church

Day 26-Locked Up