40 days of inspiration

I haven’t felt like I could write honestly here about my life for the last little while, for several reasons. I’m still interested in writing, but have had a hard time coming up with things to say.

Yesterday, though, my friend Becky Joy posted on her Facebook that she has a plan for Lent that sparked my interest. She said that instead of making a sacrifice for Lent, for the next 40 days, she will write a letter a day to someone who has made a positive impact on her life, and spend that day praying over that person.

I really love this idea, and since she gave her blessing to another friend who commented that she planned to steal the idea, I hope she’ll also be cool with my twist on the plan. Since I know my track record with the postal service doesn’t bode well for the fate of any letters I might write (translation: I don’t mail them), I plan to post a short piece here each day in honor of a person who has inspired me, mentored me, or generally made a difference in my life.

After writing the first piece, which will go up later today, I’ve realized that a profile a day for 40 days (Lent lasts for 47 days, but the wiggle room of committing to 40 makes the project a little less daunting; if I make it past 40, I’ll be asking you all to acknowledge my awesomeness to whatever degree you see fit) will really stretch me as a writer.

The more classically trained writers in my life (read: anyone who has, unlike me, taken a creative writing class) would, I think, call this a constraint. All I have to say about it at the moment is that the writing you’ll probably see from me during this project will be less consistent and less polished (in editing if not in style; “polished” is not a word I would generally apply to my writing style at the best of times). The writing for each day will range greatly – succinct, maybe overlong, sentimental, journalistic, personal, scaled-back. It may not be what you’re used to seeing here, and it won’t be what I’m used to writing – which is exactly why I’m looking forward to it.

So here’s to recognizing the great people around us, and here’s to getting back in the swing of this writing thing.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thess. 5:11