Blogtober

It's October. I've changed all the air fresheners in my house to a nice fall scent, the mums have been planted, and evenings on the patio are cool and comfy. October is the perfect time for jumping. In my younger days, I loved to jump into a pile of leaves. Now that I'm older and wiser, I like to choose jumps I can hand so I think it's time for a challenge.

Several years ago I stumbled upon a podcast that discussed 30 day challenges. Sadly, it escapes me now where I first heard it (and the walk to the calendar that holds the answer is much too long...ha!). Doing something for 30 days seemed doable so I took heed of the advice to make a small change for 30 days. For many months after hearing that podcast, I planned a challenge for 30 days. Sometimes the challenge helped jumpstart a new habit. Sometimes it pushed me to finish a previously avoided job. Of course, the best challenges were the ones that just added a little extra to life. I never made the goals too big, but just enough to get me started. 

I may be, once again, in need of a challenge boost. Since retiring last school year, I've been adjusting to retirement life. I know every one of you heading out to work each day are ready to leave this page. How could it be hard to adjust to retirement? Hang in there with me. Honestly, I love the flexibility but, I've been in routines for so long in my life it's a bit of a challenge to learn to handle my new freedom and remain somewhat productive. 

Since the beginning of June, I haven't been blogging regularly at all. Additionally, I haven't always been writing regularly either. It's time to get a bit of kick start so I've decided October is the month. 

Hello, Blogtober.

I thought I had this novel idea but, after digging around a bit, I've discovered that Blogtober has been a thing for awhile. In most cases, it seems, bloggers commit to blogging every day in the month. Everyday!

Every. Day. 

Everyday???? 

Wait! 

What?!?!! 

Hold your horses. I'm not quite ready for that kind of commitment in my life so I've decided to put a more manageable twist on it. Boundaries, my dear. 

When I'm not blogging I miss the writing communities I typically join so for October I'm going to get back to that. I'm committing to posting at least twice a week on this blog. On Tuesdays, I'll join the Slice of Life community and on Friday I'll join the Poetry Friday community (I follow the posting calendar for this community at A(nother) Year of Reading). I'll also be posting on Thursdays with "Three for Your Library" - book trios for your classroom library - at Reflect and Refine. 

Of course, if I'm going to blog, I need a bit more structured plan so since October is the 10th month, I'm committing to 10 minutes of writing each day. Honestly, this is the perfect trick for me. I know how this will go; I'll tell myself on the hardest days I can do 10 minutes but, of course, most days I know I'll end up writing much longer. 

Taking the leap. Accepting the challenge. 

If your blog has been quiet for awhile, maybe you'd like to join. 

Small steps, my friend, small steps.