Hello and welcome to a finally above-zero (Fahrenheit, don't get your hopes up too high) Saturday and the blog's 4th anniversary here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is January 8th.
Yessirree, on this day in 2018, a group of Wannaska-affiliated writers kicked off this almanac blog with a post from our resident poet, Jack Pine Savage, who reflected on the then subzero temperatures and the hardiness of life even in the dead of winter. In a way, it's comforting to know that, although this last week has been bitterly cold, this weather is also a kind of Wannaskan normal.
Fun fact: I didn't join the Wannaskan Fab Five - Chairman Joe, Jack Pine Savage, Mr. Hot Coco, Joe - Wednesday's Child, and WannaskaWriter - until a month later when I wagged my tail and blinked pleading puppy eyes to please join the collective. My first blog post appeared on Saturday, February 17, 2018.
Today's blog post marks the 1,458th of the Wannaskan Almanac and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to be part of an incredibly talented group. Not only do they inspire me to be a better writer, but they also hold me accountable for the weekly post. In all of our 1,458 blog posts, we have never missed a day. Anyone who's tried (and failed) at blogging consistently knows this is no small feat. There have been many times - okay, most weeks - when I have contemplated how I might wiggle out of posting. It's not that I don't want to write, but every week there arises the same issue of what to write. Fortunately, more often than not, the inspiration descends (or rather an incident in our household occurs) on a Thursday night or a Friday afternoon, and *boom* I've got a topic.
In the spirit of building good habits, i.e. procrastinating less, I occasionally renew a vow to start the blog post on Wednesday. (Rarely on a Monday or Tuesday and never the week before.) I like to start with the easy parts - historical events, birthdays, and deathiversaries - because sometimes they spur a good idea, such as this blog post about the Poles of Inaccessibility. But mostly, I drum my fingers on the keyboard, my mind blank. During these vacuous lulls, I get really good at staying on top of my email.
No doubt, the crush of the deadline is what finally spurs me to action. With no time to dingaling a minute longer, I make myself commit to a topic. Sometimes the result is meh. (Other times, I'm downright impressed. Did I write that? I think to myself.)
But meh is also good and has its purpose. Meh lets me know that I don't have to be perfect or nail it every time. Meh is the steady plod forward. Meh makes the needle move back and forth between Ugh and Wow. Sharing my meh creates an opportunity for others to scoff and say, "Geez. Even I could write better than that."
If my meh is your magic, more power to you.
The commitment to the collective to keep the daily posting streak intact has pushed me to be consistent - to show up and write something even if I think I have nothing to say. It has taught me the value of consistency in toil - that when I feel scared or nervous, or when there's no muse - to just keep going.
Like the tortoise in Aesop's fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady wins the proverbial race. I keenly identify with the tortoise because I am slow - so unbearably, maddeningly slow. But when I show up to do the writing work, week in and week out, while it might not make me a faster writer, it does (I hope) make me a better one. I might arrive late to the party, but I do eventually get there.
And that's a pretty big deal.
Thank you, Wannaskan Almanac, and cheers to another year!
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| Five of the six Wannaskan Almanac writers at our last in-person meeting on March 7, 2020 (St. Paddy's at the Chairman's.) We missed Mr. Hot Coco, but his lovely mother-in-law was in attendance which more than made up for his absence. |
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
Remembering You
Kim
Having a young family gives you the best excuse not to show up Kim, but you've never let the team down. That family itself is often your inspiration and it's been wonderful to watch. We all need inspiration. Jack Pine Savage has the world of poetry, Mr. Hot Coco looks under his hat and always finds something funny there. Wednesday's Child explores the wonderful world of words and WannaskaWriter describes his wrestling matches with the world. Like Beowulf, he generally comes out on top. As chairman, I sift through history' debris in search of something interesting.
ReplyDeleteNone of us is always perfect and that's ok. We can't be fired. That's in the contract none of us has bothered signing.