So, I don’t know about you, but I am a reluctant writer. I love the idea of writing, and I’m sure that somewhere within me there is a great writer who is being held back by a story I tell myself that I am rubbish at writing.
But today I was given a challenge to write something every day for a week and send it to my challenger (my own coach). This writing can be something just for her or it can be some content for social media or a blog…. whatever I chose.
Now the great thing about a challenge is that it gives a level of accountability, i.e. if you accept the challenge then you need to do it. But at the same time, if, like me, the idea of writing , actually committing your words to paper, makes you want to run for the hills, then self-doubt takes over and every time I sit down to write, my mind goes blank and nothing comes out.
Then, there I am nearing the end of the day, resigned to the idea that I have failed this writing challenge on day one, when I get out of the car having just run an errand and I hear an owl hooting… not just once, but really going for it. Suddenly, I am filled of joy, because not only have I been lucky enough to hear this wonderful sound, but also, I realise that I don’t need to try and think of something clever or funny or informative to write about. In that moment, I was witness to the extraordinary in the mundane and all I had to do was notice it and then write about it.
Day One of the Challenge, not only completed, but published too!
One reply on “Noticing Small Moments of Joy”
Thank you so much for sharing the magic of the owl Helen and good luck with the rest of the challenge. I write a lot these days for both Distant Francophile and my coaching practice but when I first started writing, I felt the same pressure to come up things to write about. I can’t remember who it was but some clever human suggested I just start documenting things that were going on for me and to share snippets. I love that intuitively done exactly that here xx