The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Nanowrimo is "national novel writers month" and it's basically a cool thing (if you're a massive nerd like me) where writers get into regional groups and have a competition where the objective is for each novelist to write 50,000 words (the minimum to be considered a novel) in November. There are prizes ie publishing deals etc and it's also a really cool thing for people like me who aren't really very sociable but enjoy people; we have things called "write ins" where we meet up at local cafes and pubs etc and we all sit there typing and drinking our coffees or beers or whatever; alone but not alone. That's my kind of socialising; apparently I've found my tribe. My region has 44 writers and we are collectively about to crack 1 million words between us for this nano. (currently 932,404 words) It's pretty cool, as far as I am concerned. Probably sounds weird to everyone else lol, but I'm loving it.
Anyway, I passed the 50,000 word mark 2 days ago. I wrote an entire short novel in 22 days and earned my nano badge. I spent about 3 hours a day on it. I'm sharing this here because, look at what I can do. Prior to al-anon, I just didn't do anything. Everything was too hard and I thought I was cursed anyway so why bother. Everything I did was garbage. I hated me. I thought I was utter crap so I hid behind my qualifiers and let that be my excuse for never trying.
The way I approach life now, thanks to the support and love of my al-anon people, is, I can. My HP has me. My HP didn't make crap. My HP didn't carry me this far just to drop me. "I think I can" has become "I can, I will and I did".
If I did that in November, i can do it in December, and January, and so on. I can. I can keep writing until I write something good. And if I can do that, I can do other stuff. Lots of it. I can finish my degree, I can get my motorbike license, I can be a good mother, I can break out of being poor and living in a crap place and get myself to somewhere better. I can, I can, I can. Name it, I can do it.
I want to thank all of you for being a part of this fellowship that has transformed my life. Without each and every one of you. al-anon wouldn't exist and I'd still be hiding in bed, trying to blame someone else.
Love you guys.
(((everyone)))
-- Edited by MissM on Friday 25th of November 2016 06:53:16 AM
Lifelong member of the fan club here. Mel, I'm going to borrow that. I will say "... I can" a minimum of 5 times a day out loud. Empowering!
Your struggle is worth it, as is mine.
I look forward to BUYING your published work. It's as close as I will get to writing - but then, I have my own goals. I can, too.
Brilliant, Mel.
