Then, it happens. Every. Single. Time. A swam of hesitations attack my brain:
"You don't have a niche. You can't have a blog without a niche."
"What's your blogging name going to be? All good blogs have a clever name. No name? No blog."
"Have you seen your to-do list recently? You don't have time to write a blog."
"Do you really think other people would be interested in reading your thoughts?"
"Do you really want other people to read your thoughts?"
Surrendering in defeat to the attack of doubts, I close the blogging webpage on my computer (yet again), resigning myself to the fact that I should just keep my twisted web of thoughts in my head.
Until today.
I still don't have a niche. I still don't have a clever name. And my to-do list is still a mile long.
But, the teacher I have been observing as part of my TESOL field experience has encouraged her class to participate in the "Slice of Life" blogging challenge, which involves blogging about something for every day in the month of March. I'll admit, when I first learned about it, I thought it was an amazing way to encourage literacy and was inspired by the example this teacher was setting for her students. "I should do it, too!" I thought. I may not have English Language Learners to inspire right now, but I can certainly start creating habits now that will (hopefully) influence the lives of my future students.
Then the attack happened. The same old hesitations came back and I reverted back to my old tendencies. I closed the blogging window on my computer and decided not to do it. "That's a great thing for them to do," I thought, "but I just don't have the time...or the ideas...or the right niche...or..."
I couldn't get rid of the nagging in my mind, though. Why not try? Why not start writing more often? Why not choose to start setting examples today for students that I might have in the future?
So, here we go...."Slice of Life" challenge accepted. My postings might not be witty, insightful, or inspiring. More likely, they will be a tangled web of thoughts that happen to be posted to the internet. But perhaps somewhere in the writing down of that tangled web, I will become a better writer, teacher, and role model for my students in the future. If not, what's the worst that can happen?
