YOU. You Bloggers, Readers, Writers. AtoZers Make me Happy

It's been 25 days of this amazing challenge. I didn't think I'd take up a blogging challenge much less complete it because you know how there's always many reasons to not do something. When I signed up for the challenge, I was pretty sure that work would get in the way, life would get in the way, there would be friends that I would have to meet, weekends that I would want to just be lazy, I knew there would be days where I wouldn't be able to write because a writer's block is almost always an issue.


But I also know that writing makes me happy. Writing is what I want to do. I find my peace in writing. That should give me a good reason to continue writing. But then, something even more wonderful, something I'd never imagined happened. The AtoZ Group on Facebook, one where a bunch of bloggers came together to support each other through the challenge. 74 members who vowed to keep the tempo up, and boy did they! Every morning there would be a flurry of activity, people posting about the challenges they are facing. One day it would be a fever, one day it would be travel. Some days it would be compliments for other bloggers. How can I forget Naba who commented on every post? Or Carol? I met some wonderful bloggers who just kept the creative quotient so high, it was impossible to match. You could only sit back and enjoy the brilliance. Yes, Aditi and S(t)ri. I loved how some bloggers were doing crazy thing parallel Richa with the moving and the UBC and the A2Z and Indie30 I've no idea how she managed it. I enjoyed every bit of every post. How can I forget Apoorva's A to Z of Indian Weddings?

One fine day, Karen Smith shared the picture of her lovely home at Idaho, It was the most stunning picture of snow. She described how the population is about 500 people who live on massive properties. Everyone was in awe of it.

The month of April was kind of weird for me. But each evening when I'd return from work, I'd log in and check every blogger who'd commented on my post. Then return to the 'alphabet list' and head straight to my group, check out posts. A lot of my groupies put up some really personal stuff, so it got me thinking, what is it that's making us want to write such deep personal stuff? Then it struck me, as bloggers and story tellers in general we want to be heard. We don't want praises, but it's nice to be listened to.

My friends asked me so who keeps score? I didn't know. So what do you win? I don't know. Why are you doing this challenge? "Because I want to". At the end of the challenge, I can say that nobody keeps score. Not even you. It is about writing and writing alone. It isn't about who is better. It is about getting better. There is no winning at the end of the challenge, there is just winning throughout. Winning friends, winning writing, winning over the challenge itself.