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.
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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