What Did it Feel Like to Complete 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days?

This was one of the most gratifying goals I have set for myself. It holds particular soulful significance given that it took place during the COVID pandemic. Over the 100 days I have received positive feedback, for which I am grateful. The most special was an email I received late last week from a mom. Take a look:

If you don’t mind, I would like to say thank you! With our family home for the past few months, we have been looking for ways to occupy our time with fun and even educational activities. One of the ways is by some fun word games. This is how we came upon your page: https://mcrolston.com/resources/

My kiddos have enjoyed spending time with us and the games have brought up together. This has prompted my daughter Jessie to look for other online games for us to try.

One of the websites she found is a good source of word games: https://crossword-solver.io/word-games-for-kids/. As our way of thanking you for your information, Jessie wanted me to pass this other page along to you. Maybe you can use it on your website for other families like us!

Thank you again for your page and for listening to Jess’s suggestion. If you can use it, could you shoot me a quick email so that I can let her know the page was useful to others.

Thanks,
Jen

Wow! Those messages make the journey all worthwhile! Thank you, Jen and Jessie! By the way, this is a fantastic link! I will be referring to it again in the future.

When I ponder further on the 100-day journey I realize it satiated so many of my needs, namely that of freedom, influence, survival, love and belonging, and fun. These are the five needs taken from Dr. William Glasser’s Choice Theory. When beginning the project, I wasn’t thinking of all five needs being met just one, that of freedom. Surprisingly the accomplishment delivered so much more!

First, according to Dr. Glasser, the need for freedom is greatly linked to creativity. In my late forties I took the Glasser Choice Theory training and came to realize that I have a great need for freedom. It all made sense the more I thought about my need for freedom, as I am happiest when I have options and I am creating. Speed ahead around 15 years later to 2020 and the pandemic and I realized that I needed to distract myself with creativity during our period of physical distancing and quarantine. Coincidentally, Scott had just finished revamping my website, and I knew I had to get into a regular routine of blogging. I would have found time, and this was the moment for me to carpe diem. There were no excuses!

Power and influence. Quickly, I realized that I could offer support to parents, teachers and students with my stable of stories and education resources. My intent was not to be the all mighty expert. I spent time researching links that I thought would be quick and easy references and inspiration to parents as they homeschool and or distracted their children with educational information. I also thought it would be great to offer parents encouragement and advice either from my own experiences or through resources I found on the web. I recognized my need for influence (or as Glasser would state, power….and by the way most of us teachers have a great need for power/influence in a positive way lol) was being answered. I was able to help others from the safe physical distance of my home computer. Best of all is getting positive feedback from readers! THANK YOU!

My need for survival, was certainly addressed as my goal, set structure to my days and weeks. Certainly, I played around with a variety comfort levels, sometimes writing for days at end early in the morning, sometimes switching to late afternoon or evenings and then near day 65 I began writing on a theme for a week, preparing 5-6 days of blogs over 1-2 days then scheduling them for daily release. This structure and focus gave me purpose and creative direction. It has added writing discipline and practice to my day. During the pandemic, friends would approach me and ask, “How are you doing?”.  Some seemed listless and out of sorts. I responded with, “Great, I have been very busy writing.”

Love and Belonging is a critical need for us all, however, some of us need to be connected to others more than others. Although I consider myself to be a bit of a lone wolf at times, I do cherish my relationships with others. Blogging and posting in conjunction with social media has been building and solidifying relationships as people, in response to reading the posts, have offered encouragement and their stories, creating a deeper bond between us. In addition, the blogs have given me a platform to celebrate the inspiration from friends and family.

Last, this journey has been remarkably fun. Dr. Glasser would classify fun as a by-product of learning. While researching the various topics I have been expanding my resources and insights on various topics. In addition, I have been having a blast learning new ways of creating iMovies with my stories, becoming more comfortable using social media, learning new techniques for sharing poetry and getting a kick out of the stories that the Elf King has graciously agreed to illustrate with my favourite stick figures. It has been a playful project!

In summary, I believe this experience kept me sane with purpose and creativity during a pandemic. I also believe that it has enhanced Dazzle’s exposure in the world. Moreover, it has given me a platform to market Keith’s and my self-published work. Above all it is a proud accomplishment, Keith teased me one day asking, “So where do you find so much to write about?” I responded with a twinkle and chuckle, “I don’t know it just happens?!” Maybe that’s the biggest lesson of all, to be patient, relaxed, observant and open to playing with thought and the universe will provide. Thank-You divine inspiration! Surrender …. Let Go Let GOD!

Dazzle’s Challenge:

  • Start a website. If not use any of the social media forums and posting a daily reflection, resource or piece of inspiration.
  • If you aren’t into sharing set a regular time of the day to write. Journal. Start a novel. Write to your kids. Write to your partner. Try your hand at poetry.
  • OR if writing isn’t your thing, what about drawing, reading, music or fitness. It doesn’t matter what you do, but what matters is that you set a goal and stick to it.

Quick Take Away Links:

What Did it Feel Like to Complete 100 Blog Posts in 100 Days?

This was one of the most gratifying goals I have set for myself. It holds particular soulful significance given that it took place during the COVID pandemic. Over the 100 days I have received positive feedback, for which I am grateful. The most special was an email I received late last week from a mom. Take a look:

If you don’t mind, I would like to say thank you! With our family home for the past few months, we have been looking for ways to occupy our time with fun and even educational activities. One of the ways is by some fun word games. This is how we came upon your page: https://mcrolston.com/resources/

My kiddos have enjoyed spending time with us and the games have brought up together. This has prompted my daughter Jessie to look for other online games for us to try.

One of the websites she found is a good source of word games: https://crossword-solver.io/word-games-for-kids/. As our way of thanking you for your information, Jessie wanted me to pass this other page along to you. Maybe you can use it on your website for other families like us!

Thank you again for your page and for listening to Jess’s suggestion. If you can use it, could you shoot me a quick email so that I can let her know the page was useful to others.

Thanks,
Jen

Wow! Those messages make the journey all worthwhile! Thank you, Jen and Jessie! By the way, this is a fantastic link! I will be referring to it again in the future.

When I ponder further on the 100-day journey I realize it satiated so many of my needs, namely that of freedom, influence, survival, love and belonging, and fun. These are the five needs taken from Dr. William Glasser’s Choice Theory. When beginning the project, I wasn’t thinking of all five needs being met just one, that of freedom. Surprisingly the accomplishment delivered so much more!

First, according to Dr. Glasser, the need for freedom is greatly linked to creativity. In my late forties I took the Glasser Choice Theory training and came to realize that I have a great need for freedom. It all made sense the more I thought about my need for freedom, as I am happiest when I have options and I am creating. Speed ahead around 15 years later to 2020 and the pandemic and I realized that I needed to distract myself with creativity during our period of physical distancing and quarantine. Coincidentally, Scott had just finished revamping my website, and I knew I had to get into a regular routine of blogging. I would have found time, and this was the moment for me to carpe diem. There were no excuses!

Power and influence. Quickly, I realized that I could offer support to parents, teachers and students with my stable of stories and education resources. My intent was not to be the all mighty expert. I spent time researching links that I thought would be quick and easy references and inspiration to parents as they homeschool and or distracted their children with educational information. I also thought it would be great to offer parents encouragement and advice either from my own experiences or through resources I found on the web. I recognized my need for influence (or as Glasser would state, power….and by the way most of us teachers have a great need for power/influence in a positive way lol) was being answered. I was able to help others from the safe physical distance of my home computer. Best of all is getting positive feedback from readers! THANK YOU!

My need for survival, was certainly addressed as my goal, set structure to my days and weeks. Certainly, I played around with a variety comfort levels, sometimes writing for days at end early in the morning, sometimes switching to late afternoon or evenings and then near day 65 I began writing on a theme for a week, preparing 5-6 days of blogs over 1-2 days then scheduling them for daily release. This structure and focus gave me purpose and creative direction. It has added writing discipline and practice to my day. During the pandemic, friends would approach me and ask, “How are you doing?”.  Some seemed listless and out of sorts. I responded with, “Great, I have been very busy writing.”

Love and Belonging is a critical need for us all, however, some of us need to be connected to others more than others. Although I consider myself to be a bit of a lone wolf at times, I do cherish my relationships with others. Blogging and posting in conjunction with social media has been building and solidifying relationships as people, in response to reading the posts, have offered encouragement and their stories, creating a deeper bond between us. In addition, the blogs have given me a platform to celebrate the inspiration from friends and family.

Last, this journey has been remarkably fun. Dr. Glasser would classify fun as a by-product of learning. While researching the various topics I have been expanding my resources and insights on various topics. In addition, I have been having a blast learning new ways of creating iMovies with my stories, becoming more comfortable using social media, learning new techniques for sharing poetry and getting a kick out of the stories that the Elf King has graciously agreed to illustrate with my favourite stick figures. It has been a playful project!

In summary, I believe this experience kept me sane with purpose and creativity during a pandemic. I also believe that it has enhanced Dazzle’s exposure in the world. Moreover, it has given me a platform to market Keith’s and my self-published work. Above all it is a proud accomplishment, Keith teased me one day asking, “So where do you find so much to write about?” I responded with a twinkle and chuckle, “I don’t know it just happens?!” Maybe that’s the biggest lesson of all, to be patient, relaxed, observant and open to playing with thought and the universe will provide. Thank-You divine inspiration! Surrender …. Let Go Let GOD!

Dazzle’s Challenge:

  • Start a website. If not use any of the social media forums and posting a daily reflection, resource or piece of inspiration.
  • If you aren’t into sharing set a regular time of the day to write. Journal. Start a novel. Write to your kids. Write to your partner. Try your hand at poetry.
  • OR if writing isn’t your thing, what about drawing, reading, music or fitness. It doesn’t matter what you do, but what matters is that you set a goal and stick to it.

Quick Take Away Links: