For today’s writing, I have to thank Cindy from Ms. Chiubooka Writes, who actually took inspiration from an earlier post of mine. In this post, she looks back over her years in the monthly challenge. Her writing was so insightful I had to think about it for myself.
This is only my fifth year doing the challenge, but it’s enough time for me to see changes and patterns. The act of writing each March has given a window into myself at the time.
2025. This year, just participating in the challenge is a win for me. The fact that I’m still standing after a humdinger of a past year is a minor miracle. So it doesn’t surprise me that many of my posts are lighter in nature, with room for reflection and sincerity to creep in. (As it does.) I don’t think I’m far enough from this year to reflect on it, so I’ll leave that to Future Me.
2024 was a year where the theme seemed to be the discomfort of writing every day. I won’t call it whining, but…it is what it is. More often than not, I navigated that discomfort by composing poetry. I don’t know what it is about poetry that allows for a more open channel of expression. Maybe I’ll dig into that sometime. Maybe that’s what therapists are for.
2023. Hoo boy. My mom underwent brain surgery, I was a representative on a highly contentious union negotiation cycle, and life was, to speak plainly, a sack of bananas. I have no posts for March beyond the 12th, and I feel zero guilt about it. Funny thing is, other than a poem alluding to my hope for a snow day, my posts give absolutely no indication of what I’m actually going through. Maybe that’s another thing therapists are for.
2022. The one thing I notice more than anything during this year is how often I reported on what was happening in my classroom. I don’t think I’ve done as much of that recently, and I think I want to go back to doing it more. Plus, my students get so tickled to see their thinking showcased, and they love knowing there are folks out there in the world responding to what they contribute.
2021. My first year as a Slicer! It’s a month full of a mish-mosh of stories from life, poems, and musings as a writer. It’s also during a time in my life I was examining my own relationship with race and identity through a series of what I called “Sunday Sit-Downs.” It’s amazing to me how deeply my early experiences and (mis-)understandings led to my current (and currently evolving) world view. Enter my therapist, yet again.
Through it all, I’ve seen the themes and patterns that run throughout – because if history has taught me anything, it’s that I make sense of the world by looking for themes. And metaphor. But if you’ve been a regular customer, you probably already knew that. So…what have I learned?
1. Sometimes this is hard.
2. Sometimes I don’t like my work.
3. And that’s okay.
4. There’s always amazing inspiration to be had from colleagues.
5. And my students.
6. Especially my students.
7. Fiction is my Waterloo, but I’ll keep trying.
8. My commitment to re-creating this experience for students has been my north star.
9. I’ve written some good stuff.
10. And some clunkers.
11. I’m beyond grateful to this writing community.
12. In more ways than I can count.
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
FIVE YEARS! Woo-hoo! 🎉 Kudos! Congratulations on doing the good work of looking back, reflecting, and gathering themes. It’s really inspiring how you organized this writing by years involved in the Slice of Life Challenge. That creative nonfiction structure appeals to me. It’s a get-right-to-the-point structure. I especially like your final list of “things learned.” Thank you for being such a thoughtful commenter. A+ for literary citizenship. I hope to continue to write with you on Tuesdays!
Thank you! And I appreciate your telling me that I got right to the point. That tends to be…let’s just say…not my strong suit =)
I just read the blog post you sent about literary citizenship, and I enjoyed thinking about the different ways we can support each other as writers. I’m now subscribing to their blog, too!
Your writing voice is as clear as ever in this reflection. Thank you for the shout out, but honestly, the seed idea came from your own words. How we grow and the time to reflect on it is life’s pot of gold. Thank you for your honest, humorous, and thoughtful slices. See you in a year (or maybe sooner if I randomly post on a Tuesday).
Thanks, Cindy. I love that the inspiration just cycles through – and not in a competitive way, just a “wow that’s cool and I want to try it now” way.
Thank you for YOUR thoughtful and sincere feedback, and thanks for being a writer who inspires me with your craft and cleverness.
I think I need to go back now and see how my writing has changed over the last 11 years. I always enjoy your posts. Thanks for your comments on mine.
Of course! You’re also part of why this community is so wonderful, too. I’d be interested in seeing how you’ve changed as a writer.
(I’d also love to see a compilation post of your March craft projects over the years…)
Reflection is good, and both you and Cindy show us a good way to approach it. Congrats on this year! Showing up is so much!!!
I am thinking about your explaining how your troubled times did not make it into your March writing. I get it. Some people can lay it all out there immediately. Others(me, perhaps you, Peter in his water piece about his daughter) need passage of time to approach it. I consider it still counts as a small moment, because the moment of writing is the moment when we are ready to put our thoughts together and down. Linda of Linda and Greg wrote about camp chairs but it was really about grief that lasts years, from the loss of her mother. So I hope you will write about some of these deeply hard times, but when you are ready, and to share or not to share as you wish.
PS I did love your classroom writing, especially all the kid edits!
Fran, YES. Showing up is EVERYTHING: in writing, in life.
And looking back, I think the reason I didn’t write about those hard times is because I was still under the (highly mistaken!) assumption that I had things together. That I had things Handled. There probably is a post in exploring that, as well.
As for the kid edits, I loved them too, and I hope they’re proud that we can be somewhat equals in our class writing community.
I must only check in on your posts when it’s the “good stuff” because I can’t recall a single clunker. I know your thoughtfulness and your engaging writing style have both been an inspiration to me. Okay, I need to go look back through the years. I, too, started in 2021…I think.
Ha, thanks! And I appreciate your generosity there. It’s just that sometimes I look at a piece of writing, stand back and say with a smile, “Yes. I wrote that.” And others, I think…well, I guess I wrote that, just to write a Thing.
And now, if you look back over your years, I’ll be anxious to see what reflections surface!
I love this look back on past slicing challenges. It’s so telling when we reread our slices later. We remember what was going on, even when others may not. Well done for completing your 5th SOL challenge!! 🙂
Yes, exactly! I feel like the blog is my own personal time capsule.
Hey, friend, I have felt very grateful to walk, hike, jog, stroll, meander alongside you this month and in previous Marches. (the month in plural looks weird, right?) Sharing slices, exchanging bits of inspiration – I’ve loved your voice and presence here. Thank you for making this community such a welcoming one.
hmmm…”Marches” does seem like an odd plural, and yet…it’s perfectly apt.
I’ve loved meandering, skipping, and (of course) Marching right alongside you as well. Thanks as well, friend, for your support, encouragement, and validation.
I always learn such a lot from your posts. And I always thought you’d been posting for years!
Thanks, Celia! I appreciate that, and I’ve especially appreciated writing and learning alongside you this month. =)