“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.” (Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki) I pray each day to be given a beginner’s mind, both as a writer and as a human being.
Grace
Each time I sit down before the blank page
I am a beginner; every time is the first time
No one has written this, not even I
It is as new as I am new to writing it
So each poem, each day, each breath
Is a gift, a chance to start from scratch
…days left in the April A-Z Challenge!
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I’ll do when the month ends. I’ve posted more consistently (and gotten more traffic) than at any time since I began this blog, and I hate to lose that momentum. On the other hand, I’ve come to see that there is a certain tyranny in the requirement to post daily: the demands can be wearing on readers and blogger alike. I think I’ve seen a certain degree of reader fatigue, and I know that the quality of the posts has not been consistently what I would like it to be.
I’ve been trying to cultivate the habit of daily writing for some time now, but that sort of writing isn’t always fit for publication. I think journals are a good place to do that, and I’ve been making use of mine for that purpose. A fair amount of what I’ve written on a daily basis hasn’t made it to the blog, but it has been good for me to be stretched by the letter prompts and by the need to produce something postable every day. I’m not sure, however, that it’s a sustainable practice for me over the long term.
In the interest of everyone’s sanity, I’ve decided to institute the Z-A Even Day Challenge. I will work my way backwards through the alphabet (since I missed the first two-thirds of it) with the commitment to post on even-numbered calendar days. This will take me through May and well into June, by which time I hope to figure out something else to do to keep myself writing.
I’ll keep you posted, and I’d love to hear any feedback or ideas you might have. Thanks for reading!
The Daily Compost 