My Writing Story....

Today is day two of Michelle's Big Time Literacy blogging challenge! Today we are challenged to write our writing story. And my thoughts are cluttered. But I'll try to gather them and write a readable blog post! Join us at BTL for her challenge! You can join in and write, or just hop over and read.

My writing life.
Writing is a gift, a necessity, a cool drink of water. And it has been this way for a long, long time. When I was a freshman in high school, a tumultuous time in my life to say the least, I had this teacher that believed in me. She didn't JUST see an at-risk kid whose family life was falling apart during that period in life when kids are hormonally imbalanced at all times of the day and night. She saw ME. And for that, I am forever grateful. Mrs. Penner was my English teacher, and she introduced me to the world of poetry. I will be forever grateful for this as well. I started purging my soul through poems. I wrote about the dark place that I lived and some of my writing, well, it was bad. But as I went back to her to have her read my writing time after time after time, long after my class with her had ended, she continued to say.... KEEP WRITING!

Writing is cathartic. It purges the soul. Writing is powerful.

For many, many years I could only write when things were black and bleak. I have been training myself though to focus on the good, on gratitude, and what is right both in the world and myself. And it is getting easier to write about how good life is today.

Before blogging I would pour my heart out in fb notes and on myspace (anyone remember that place?!). I was (am) an over-sharer. Once I start sharing, then you're privy to all the sinister and not-so-socially-appropriate topics and details that are my life. So... as my journey into real adulthood progressed, I realized I could not continue to over-bless people with my opinions. Because, you know what they say about opinions. And I had discovered another passion.... teaching. I wanted to be a teacher more than anything in the world! And I wanted to be employable. Which meant the over-sharing had to come to a halt. And it was/is difficult for me. I have another blog, in another name, that I can use to write and over-share when I need to. Or when my professional life would not tolerate what I have to write about.

Once upon a time ago, I had a daycare (20 years ago this coming fall, I know this because my Redhead is turning 20 next week), and many of the parents in my daycare were teachers. A lady named Alyce brought her precious son Sam to me when he was still learning to crawl. She interviewed me like she was National Security! I was sweating it! But she chose to bring her most precious piece of herself to my daycare and trusted me with his well-being. And we became fast friends. And when she moved away and had another child, she chose to start her own daycare. And when I had a child 8 years after my Redhead, she came to the hospital and taught me about being a competent mother and breast feeding. But at some point, we lost touch. Then my friend, who had been in Special Education when her son came to my house, got a job teaching regular education (oh that sounds so wrong, but whatever, teaching in a self-contained classroom). And I graduated from FHSU with my teaching degree and we re-connected. And her advice to me was to find some blogs to read, and read them and see how other teachers run their classrooms. My dear friend Alyce had this blog: Mrs. Bartel's School Family. So I found it and followed it. I had to join blogger to do that. Hmmmm.... how hard would it be to create my own blog? Which is what I did, from the OK panhandle, teaching in a diverse community, in my very first Kindergarten class. Here is my very first blog post ever.

I love writing about life. I LOVE, love, love TwoWritingTeachers march blogging challenge, and Slice of Life! And teaching is life. And it is all intertwined in some way. If I am writing about my spiritual life, it relates to teaching. If I am purging my soul, it will likely in some way relate to teaching. If I write about gratitude and this amazing journey called life, it will most definitely be woven with anecdotes about teaching.

When I moved back to Kansas from the OK panhandle, I felt lost again. Once again, no administrators jumped up to take a chance on the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Once again, I was jobless with many, many bills for pay. And I discovered Big Time Literacy. I think Alyce discovered it first and that I found it through her blog. Michelle, did you do a challenge or some sort of link-up that first summer? My memory says yes you did, but I am not certain. (This brain does not retain!)

Since I am compelled to share and share and share about my life, I love linky parties and any opportunity to tell the world about what I'm doing and where my life is going. So I join them. all. of. them. Okay, I am getting better. But certainly as a new blogger, I joined any and every link-up I could find! Somehow I became connected with Michelle. We only know each other through blogging, and yet.... I count her in my dearest friends. The friends I overshare with (and some uncomfortable pauses). Seriously, we are talking about a meet up. What could be more thrilling?

Writing. I would love to write a book of short stories, anecdotes, thoughts and/or meditations. That is my hope. My "someday..."

For now, I blog.