What I learned after writing for 31 days! {Day 31}

In his best-selling books, Malcolm Gladwell writes often about the 10,000 hours needed to achieve mastery in a field. He suggests talent is not the important factor: hours invested is what tips the scales.

Now clearly, I have not invested ten thousand hours in writing this thirty-one day series (although it sometimes feels like I did). And, just so you can ALL breath a sigh of relief, I am not planning on turning this blog into a poetry blog (much as I might have a lot of fun with it). No, the 31 Days was just to help me break out of my routines, do something creative, but in a focused way.

So… although I don’t consider myself an expert in parenting poetry, even just a month of writing daily on one topic shows me the truth behind what Gladwell says:

Putting the time in eventually bears fruit.

Here’s a few more things I learned specifically from this 31 day writing challenge (in no particular order – this is more of a free write):

Writing consistently on a topic forces me to think about more angles than I even knew existed.

My poetry writing skills were (and still are!) a wee bit rusty! I know, I know, a lot of you have complimented the poems, but… when I consider my amazing creative writing teacher in college and the pieces I wrote then… phew boy! I am not sure I want her seeing this little collection! haha! No, she is a sweet lady, and would not likely judge me too harshly!

Our children have so much to offer us – stop and look at them for five solid minutes without ANY interruptions – you will be amazed! (Also, you will be amazed at how often in five minutes something other than yourself tries to interrupt you). Stop and just LISTEN to what they are saying or doing… sometimes we view it as just so much noise, but… I found myself amazed at the intricacies of their happy little chatter.

People aren’t really that interested in poetry. I definitely noticed fewer visits and comments during this series than on my more informational-type of posts. I realize poetry is not the norm for most people, but my hope is to make it feel accessible to at least a few more!

I remembered I like to write even when nobody’s watching.

My children are so so so amazing in every way. I could write about them every day, all day, they give me so much joy (and material! LOL).

31 days isn’t really enough to adequately cover the range of emotions, issues, and memories as a parent (of boys or girls).

Writing extensively on a topic often causes you to veer off course, even a little bit. For instance, I found myself writing more about parenting in general, and don’t feel I got to the real heart of being a boy-mom in most of these poems.

Much of parenting experience is universal to moms of boys or girls. Some is distinctive to each gender, I think. (You might disagree, and that is fine too! Grace.)

Sometimes, you need to just push those poem-babies out into the world and let them go. Perfection in poetry writing is not always your friend. Unless you’re John Donne. I’m not.

The words WILL come. Some nights I had to force it out. Some nights it came effortlessly. Some nights I was up till one a.m. waiting… waiting for the words. They always came.

I am glad that I became a little more vulnerable to my readers throughout this process. It was harder than I thought to put my very personal thoughts and feelings out there.

No matter what – the words in my head always sound better than when I type them out! Even this post, I had so many grand thoughts to share with you but… I am finding they’re coming out much simpler than I imagined!

I’m pretty sure I am going to use these posts as a jumping off point for an e-book… what do you think of that? 

Thank you, dear readers, for sticking with me this month!

I know writing poetry about parenting boys was a departure from my normal writing about wholesome living, homeschooling, recipes, and the like. I know there were fewer giveaways, but I appreciate your coming on this journey with me as I took a small break from the norm to be refreshed and challenged.

To read all the posts in The Poetry of Parenting Boys 31 days series, just click the button!