It was that kind of morning here in rural Georgia. I’m an hour south of the world’s busiest airport, but believe me – – nothing was busy here in my small town this morning. Low 60s, overcast with a light mist, and my husband and his brother were installing a motion sensor light over their dad’s garage about a half mile across the Johnson Funny Farm where we all live ~ something that has been on their to-do list since Christmas, but things kept getting in the way. That’s why I didn’t bother getting dressed to be anywhere.
My 80-year old father, a retired minister, was preaching in my childhood church, so I was streaming him on YouTube, kicked back on the couch and flanked by three snoozing Schnoodles. I imagine if anyone was watching through a hidden camera, they’d have thought we’d had a Saturday night party and were still recovering, moving slowly if at all, still in our pajamas.
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Glenda Funk’s text came right as the service ended. She’d sent me a photo of her coffee mug a few minutes earlier, since my post was about my dogs on Sunday.
Thoughts of one particular Slicer Meet-Up came rushing back, the one where I was in California for the NCTE Convention and asked some random people on the street if they were going to the Slicer Meet-Up, and they stared at me like I was packing a blade before hastily walking off in the opposite direction.
I ran for the closet and threw my tousled hair up in a clip, setting a new personal record for putting on a bra and a shirt and looking alive. Boo Radley snuggled in on my shoulder as he usually does, and I took a deep breath and found the email reminder with the Zoom link from Stacey. Sure enough, there it was. I entered into a breakout room with Group 2: Sonia, Pia, and Glenda. We talked about our plan for writing through the month and how we were feeling, but we didn’t get to the part about what we wanted to get out of it. We were having too much fun chatting about the grace we give ourselves in making the timing of our writing and our reading work for us as we navigate the currents of writerhood.
After leaving the Breakout room, we shared our conversations and then had the opportunity to talk with another small group about these questions:
I was in Group 1 with Kristen, Stacey, and Pia this time, and we talked about the way we choose the blogs we read and how we comment on them. Pia shared that she likes to consider the equity of comments; she looks for blogs needing comments, and those are the ones she reads. Kristen talked about managing her time with reading, writing, and commenting and is working on these parts of the Slicing Life right now, Stacey talked about the importance of first draft writing – to share organic slices of life and resist the urge to blog to perfection.
Seventeen Slicers shared an hour of conversation and getting to know each other, offering tips and sharing what has worked for us. Some like to set a timer, some read first to find the inspiration to write, some gravitate to those they know while visiting new bloggers, too, and some read for what we find we need that particular day. As we comment, we like to find connections and keep blogging conversational as we build relationships with other writers and feel the sense of belonging take root in this sacred space of writers all networking, encouraging and inspiring each other.
To Glenda, thank you for the text reminder since I had missed the email reminder. To Sonia, Pia, Glenda, Linda, Pia, Trish, Betsy, Carol, Kristen, Alice, Juliette, Barb, Cathleen, Stacey, Vanessa, and Amy, I want you to know that the hour I spent with you was most enjoyable. You are ALL worth getting dressed for, and I can’t wait to get to know all of this month’s Slicers better as we share our lives and inspire each other throughout this month!
Check out today’s homepage of Two Writing Teachers for a photo taken by Trish Emerson of Sunday’s Slicer Meet-Up Zoom attendees!
Slicer Meet-Up
Slicer
Meet-Up
sharing, inspiring, considering
writers encouraging each other
networking
Common Threads 