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Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Better Late Than Never

This month I am participating in the 13th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. Visit Two Writing Teachers for more information.

I have always wanted to participate in the Slice of Life Challenge. Each February, the idea pops into my mind, but I've never been able to make myself commit to a month of writing. It briefly crossed my mind again this year, but I told myself that this definitely could not be the year I try the challenge. Back in February, I was in the midst of planning a conference, the 51st Annual Conference of the Massachusetts Reading Association, planned for April 2-3, 2020. As Conference Chair, I started planning over a year and a half ago. As I was pouring my heart and soul into what was going to be a stellar event, putting time into writing wouldn't have been feasible.

Enter the coronavirus. Suddenly, I was not planning a conference any more. Joy and anticipation turned into disappointment and heartbreak. It turns out that canceling a conference is a process in and of itself. There is work to be done, but it's not work that brings with it the same energy and joy. Seeing the invitation to join the challenge as a latecomer, I thought maybe this should be the year to participate. I could benefit from the community, the connection, and the power of story.

Part of me has always wondered if I could ever keep up with a month of daily posts. Writing half a month of posts seems like a good way to try out the challenge and ease myself into the idea of writing a post every day. Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for the invitation and to Margaret Simon for asking the question about latecomers. You never know...I could be back next year for the whole month!

6 comments:

  1. Welcome to Slice of Life! Small moments like planning and then canceling a conference make a month of slices. You can do it! Take care and see you online!

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  2. Welcome, Lisa! I can't imagine how hard making the decision to cancel (and to actually do the work associated with canceling) MRA this month. I hope that writing about it and channeling all of your creative energy into new projects (like this) will help ease some of the disappointment, sadness, and frustration. I've been thinking of you!

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  3. Welcome, Lisa.
    I hope you find some joy in writing for the remainder of Slice of Life to balance out the frustrations of planning a conference that could not come to fruition due to the pandemic.
    I'm looking forward to seeing your slices!

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  4. So happy you are here, Lisa! I came in late, too now that I have more time available. These slices are for me to continue to push my own thinking. I hope you can find some comfort in your writing and within the group!

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  5. As teachers, we know that writing is a way to process the world. To give it context. I'm happy to see another fellow Massachusetts teacher in the mix ... take care, and write with the lens of day to day, moment to moment, and don't worry about the need for tomorrow's piece -- it will come.
    Kevin (out in Western Mass)

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  6. Welcome, Lisa. I am so glad that you joined in because now we can share slices and conversation. I have to say it is disappointing to cancel a conference. Our LI Literacy Conference is postponed but who knows of the May 29th will work in light of COVID-19. Ralph Fletcher and Torrey Maldonado were going to be the keynotes. Disappointments are going to be many during this time but we slicers have a positive way of looking at life. Have fun writing.

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