#NaBloPoMo 2018: Check!

Today is the last day of November, and that means National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo, is drawing to a close.

I have attempted to blog every day in November for the last decade. I think I only “failed” once, though I don’t really count it as a fail since I tried my best and I was my only judge and jury. I thought this month was going to be really tough since I was traveling for 14 days out of 30, but I was wrong. I pre-scheduled 3 or 4 posts ahead of our Maui trip because I didn’t know what to expect as far as writing time, and other than that I wrote each post on the actual day it was published.

I’ve had a lot of discussions in the past few weeks with my accountability and brainstorm partner (Vikki) about the good old days of NaBloPoMo. Back in the ancient times when so many of us were blogging, we were also reading and commenting. This year it was clear–even with a push on social media by many OG bloggers for a net positive movement in which we all go back to blogging and community–that blogging, though not necessarily dead, has definitely had some major surgery and just might still be in the hospital, awaiting release. I miss the community we used to have, and probably always will. Thanks Facebook, you jerk.

I’ve concluded (as I did last year) that as long as I keep focusing on how I write mainly for myself and for the love of writing, it doesn’t matter who reads my blog or how many people visit, though I certainly appreciate everyone who stops by! One more thing I miss about the old days are the award badges we got from BlogHer when we completed the month, so I decided to make my own. Feel free to grab it if you did your best to blog daily this month and want to give yourself a minor award!

As for how I’m feeling about my writing coming out of this 30-day streak, I’ll admit I’m proud of myself. Making time for daily writing practice is something I feel so lucky to be able to do. Overall I feel really good about much of what I published here. I took fewer short cuts (like Wordless Wednesdays, etc.) in 2018 and feel good about that. I focused more on short form writing this year and I’m happy with the results. I had some great travel experiences this month too, which helped a lot when I needed inspiration. As usual, coming out of November I hope to continue blogging more regularly, but not necessarily daily. Two or three times each week seems like a good goal for me.

Here are my favorite posts from NaBloPoMo 2018, if you missed them the first time around and want to backtrack:

Mama Bear, Baby Bear

First Time Going to Maui? Here are 12 Travel Tips from a (Former) First Timer

6 Tips for the Gift-Giving Challenged

A Scene on the Road

Another Demographic That Needs to Learn “No Means No”

How to Receive a Gift

The Spirit of Aloha

I’m ready to end November and bring on December with fresh ideas and more pretty pictures. Thank you for visiting today and on any other days you stopped in during the month: I’m grateful for you!