Friday, May 03, 2013

A to Z is over. What next? 1, 2, 3...?

It was the third Friday in April. The time was a few minutes short of midnight. La Niña and El Niño were patiently waiting for me to finish uploading my post on R is for Responsibility.

La Niña watched me, bleary eyed, patience battling against sleep, and finally asked, "Mamma, after you finish S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z, will you start with 1, 2 and 3..?"

I burst out laughing at that. Her innocent question underlined her fears about whether her mamma, who seemed to have contracted a virulent attack by the blogging bug, would ever recover.

For the entire duration of the month, she had been my companion, offering suggestions on what object to highlight through the image, looking at her English Reader for inspiration. She had sat up with me every night, except Sundays, when the A to Z April Blogging Challenge very kindly gave us a day off. The strain was beginning to tell on her, as it was on me.

My theme for the challenge had emerged out of a long-ago promise I had made to myself: that I would someday share my feeble wisdom with my 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son through hand-written letters. When I heard of the challenge, it occurred to me that I could use this forum to share much, much more than I could put into a few hand-written notes and letters.

Then began the mad scramble in my head. The rush for thinking up suitable values that I could share with them, then categorising them alphabetically to make sure that no two words expressed the same idea and that as many values as possible could be covered through the 26 letters of the English alphabet.

The rhythm of the theme helped me, kept me sane. Without it, I would have lost interest, floundered in the sea of letters and words that is the English language.


Another thing that buttressed my efforts and sustained me through the entire challenge was the encouragement of fellow-travellers on this journey. They came from everywhere, some from the A to Zers group created on Facebook by Corinne Rodrigues, others from other places in the world, and how they propped up my spirits.

Thank you to all those who took time out to read my posts and those who left a comment on them. You motivated me, and made me feel good about myself. You caused my page views to soar through the roof, and you re-ignited a dream that I had put into my back pocket.

Thank you, Arlee Bird, for initiating this magnificent challenge. It taught me that the Muse isn't as fickle as I like to believe, that if I roll up my sleeves and pretend that I mean business, she will come and sit by me, and together we will have a blast.

The end of the challenge has created an empty space where once there was vacant staring into distances, frantic writing on scraps of paper, and checking and commenting of other gems in the blog world.

How will I keep myself busy until next April when the madness and the frenzy will consume me again? I hope you'll keep dropping in to find out.




17 comments:

  1. Oh Cynthia, how I would love to give a hug to that little angel of yours. She will grow up into a magnificent lady, for she has you to look up to and emulate.
    I loved every post you shared with us throughout April and would love to come back to your blog frequently, to read all the wonderful things you write :)

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    1. Thank you so much, Bhavya, for your gracious comment about my little girl. I loved our interactions all through April and I hope this is only the beginning of some great times for us all.

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  2. Yet aagain, I simply love the way that you weave words. Amazing post this! Looking forward to your next projects.
    Thanks for being around!

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  3. Awww!! That's super cute commitment from the little one! The kids are learning a lot from you! Your A to Z posts are a must read by one and all. :)

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  4. I miss your daily dose of wisdom - Hoping to see more blogs from you in the near future :-)

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  5. that 1 2 3 que still cracks me up ;) Really cynthia together we rocked . I learnt plenty of thigns through this challenge which I didnt learn from all the years of blogging !
    Its not an exaggeration If I say
    By the way keep in touch ;)

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  6. So many A to Z bloggers, so little time! I am going through the reflections linky list to connect to blogs that I missed during the hectic April challenge, and am so glad to have found yours! I love your approach to the challenge, and I am sure your children will appreciate looking back on this record of Mamma's wisdom in the future!

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  7. Congrats on the completion of the challenge and hopefully see you next year. I was in on the first, in fact I was the first to sign up, even met Arlee when I went to the US for a visit.
    Enjoyed your reflection post.
    Yvonne.
    A TO Z AMBASSADOR.

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  8. Thank you again for your beautiful posts. I will be following you and awaiting your next challenge response. Congratulations on making it through.

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  9. You have done it again cynthia, such a lovely post, congrats to you ! and hope to be in touch !

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  10. very cute. numerical posts could be quite fun too :)

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  11. How about the hindi alphabet! On a serious note ...Cynthia I absolutely enjoyed every single one of your posts. What a lovely legacy you have left your children. Will look forward to your future posts and challenges.

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  12. I hope you keep a routine posting schedule. I'd follow you! A to Z was a blast.

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  13. Big congrats for completing and surviving the A to Z challenge! I wasn't quite up to the task:)

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  14. I'm late on getting around to reading other blogs...my dad has been ill. But I found you through the a-z, and I, too found myself a bit dry when the challenge ended. How can I write without a letter prompt? :-) You have a sweet blog, so nice to be writing to your children. That's a great idea. I'll be checking in now and then.
    from The Dugout

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  15. I'm still trying to visit all the blogs that I missed during the month of April. You write beautifully. Thank you for sharing your A to Z experience. I am your newest follower.

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  16. LOL!! 123 and all I can think of is 99 bottles of beer on the wall. I think I will stick to abc's!
    Great wrap up post.
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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