I started my blog in 2012. Right before my first November blogging, I learned about all kinds of challenges that writers and bloggers participate in during this month. From writing a poem a day, to writing a novel through the course of the month, to even blogging every day. In a burst of energy I like to call #LetsGoLetsGoLetsGo, I did all three.
And it was in that November, in a haze of writing intoxication, that I really understood how much I loved blogging. The next year I wanted to focus on blogging every day so I did that. My late husband and I named our team NanoPoblano because I couldn’t say NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). We put a group of bloggers together and did the thing.
And, minus the year I was in prison, I have tried my hand at this challenge every year since. Here’s a collection of all the badges!
I should mention that the year I was locked up, the team ran with it brilliantly and NanoPoblano thrived. When I came home, months after I had settled in to a sort of life, I went back through links and read everything I could find from that November. It was emotional for me, even though Team Tiny Peppers always has a diverse collection of participants and it rarely trends sad. I wasn’t sad. I was just really humbled by the creative work people put into this world. I was just really grateful for the life that this event has taken on.
And despite all that, I wasn’t sure if I should do it this year.
I’m tired.
Everyone is tired.
What are dozens of people going to say every day when the world is falling apart around our ears?
Well.
I learned.
They’ll tell you that people leave tiny signs for tinier flamingos because joy can be created. They’ll tell you about the flowers they grow, they’ll show you them. They’ll write you poems, every day, every day, every day, because every day has at least one poem in it. They’ll tell you how they have built a home for themselves, how they’re trying to build a better world for everyone. They’ll tell you about their cats, and generations of celebrations, and how drinking mud became a practice of gratitude. They’ll turn a blank canvas into a painting, fill a paper to the edges with drawings, and whisper a meditation right through your screen. They’ll tell you about scary tests, and days when crutches are the dream, and days when somebody forks your kidney out. They’ll tell you how they survived, and then survived again, and then kept living. They’ll tell you about the cracks they’ve seen in the world — where it could do better, how they see the potentiality for so much goodness.
Which is to say, when the world is falling apart around us, a creative community creates glue, bridges, spiderwebs, history books, plans, dreams, memory collages, knowledge banks, hope, hope, hope.
Though it’s too late to join us this year, I hope you join us next, or — sooner– participate with us on the 22nd as we celebrate Pepper Day. A day to post something, anything. We celebrate it every month.
Please check out the bloggers below who gave me some of their thoughts on NanoPoblano to share today, too. This year’s whole team can be found here: https://cheerpeppers.wordpress.com/2020-team/
Just look! There’s so much space for you.
Thank you for reading us,
Ra
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“Being a part of NanoPoblano has helped light a fire under my writing, both reigniting my motivation and feeding the flame with comments and support from fellow bloggers.”
– Psychobabble
“I really enjoy the community spirit that comes alive during Nanopoblano and especially this year when CoVid has us starving for human interaction. The camaraderie between the Peppers is great.”
– DIanne
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed #nanopoblano2020 this year! I set myself a goal of making 10 paintings over the 30 days, while sharing the process daily on my Instagram account, and as of writing this I’m just about half way there with 5 paintings under my belt and ready for the next 5. Initially I didn’t think I would be able to manage all 10 but I’ve really enjoyed making them so far and hearing everyone’s feedback as I’ve been sharing the work-in-progress pics and final pieces has been really positive and I really love seeing everyone’s reactions to the final paintings.”
– DEAN
“Being a Cheer Pepper during November in a pandemic year has brought community at a time it is needed more than ever. Digging deep to find words to blog has rebirthed a daily writing habit, and both the Cheer Peppering and the digging deep has been an anchor this month. Here’s to challenging ourselves, to community, to getting through this strange, painful, joyful, long and short year. We did it!”
– SARAH
This has been a really isolating year, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know an entirely new group of people through their words. (And I always like interacting with my old friends from previous years. 😀 )
– STEVEN
“Blogging is such a team sport and NaNo accelerates the community building that keeps all of us coming back. I do think it’s helped boost my creativity again like I was hoping, but the community really is the best part. I’ll be sad when it is over this year, but will be setting a goal to post on Pepper Day each month going forward!”
– NerdyWordyBirdy
“I really enjoy the kind comments and the feeling of having a Blog Family, even though I’m a bad blog sibling and disappear most of the year. I look forward to checking in every November and seeing what everyone’s been up to – I do think of you all even if I’m not around.”
– KIM
“Whan I named ii “daily” 15 years ago I had no idea how difficult it would be to make it actually “daily.” NanoPoblano coincides with National Adoption Awareness Month when I traditionally write 30 posts for 30 days. so it makes a nice fit. It can be strenuous sometimes, but always rewarding to get something out there, even if I think it’s mundane some days. As a writer, I’ve found it important to write every day, even if it’s just a few sentences. I believe NanoPoblano has made me a better writer over the years–and definitely faster.”
– Marley
“I was part of #TeamTinyPeppers back in 2016 and 2017 and then my life got turned upside down. I was so happy that we were finally in a place that I could commit to blogging everyday for a month again when this November rolled around. I thought that I had picked the “easy way out” by deciding that I was going to post a picture a day taken in or around our new condo, but it turns out that I actually had a few things to say along with those photos, so there have been a few honest to goodness blog posts thrown in there as well. I’ve really enjoyed reading all the blogs of the other Cheer Peppers this year as well. I truly love this community. ❤️🌶️”
– CHarlene
As Tryon Edwards said, “Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steady gains in strength, at first, it may be but as a spider’s web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel.”
– ANYES
“This challenge has opened my brain in new and interesting ways. Just like painting classes taught me to appreciate light and shadow differently, NaNoPoBlano has taught me to observe life differently and to see it as an ongoing story… determining what observations might be worth digesting and retelling/sharing.”
– DINAH
rarasaur 