It was definitely worth a try…

I have to give a shout out to my inspirations. Wednesday nights from 7-9, barring the loss of a limb, I attend a writing class. I am now more than halfway through my second session and I’m already sad that it will be over until the fall.

My fellow writers along with our writing teacher have helped me find my voice and have encouraged, shaped and inspired my writing. I wouldn’t have begun this blog, I wouldn’t have entered any writing contests and I would not have rediscovered my creative outlet without each and every one of them. This is my second session with these fine people. Some members have known each other much longer, some of us joined at the same time and we have a couple of new members who have added to the dynamics. Some are accomplished, published writers and some of us are new to the process. The space has always been a safe place and I feel like we are pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones because it’s a place where we can let our writing instruments of choice be free. What is written in class, stays in class of course so the generalities I speak of will have to suffice. But trust me, they are all talents in their own right.

Our teacher calls the writing prompts we are assigned each week ‘homeplay’. We are supposed to set our timers for 10 minutes and write. This week, has been a roller coaster of emotions, but fits with the prompt: “It was definitely worth a try”. When my children want to try something new, I tell them to try it.

My oldest daughter came home from school one day and told me she had been approached by a teacher to play rugby. She, up until that point, played volleyball and basketball. I was surprised she was toying with the idea because she had never played a contact sport. My response? Try it. Now, she loves it. She plays for teams both in school and in the community and she is vying for a spot on the provincial team. It was definitely worth a try.

My youngest asked me to print out the lyrics to a One Direction song so she could audition for her school’s talent show.

Little one: Mom, I have my audition. You have to print out the lyrics for me and put the music on a USB.

Me: That’s awesome. When is it?

Little one: (gives me the details) See, Mommy. I’m conquering my fears.

We have tried dance and gymnastics and soccer and piano and guitar. Those activities have not kept her interested, but she continues to try new things.

I have friends that constantly push me to try new things. Years ago, I became a runner because one of my friends was trying it. With her, I learned to run, we ran 5ks together, we have gained weight together, we have tried various methods of losing weight together. We have learned to mediate, line dance, cope and overcome some of our anxieties. We encourage each other to try.

Other friends have introduced me to playing soccer as an adult even though I sprained my ankle playing my best game. Because of her, I start baseball next Monday. I haven’t played baseball since I was in elementary school, but, I’ll try it.

I joined a kickboxing class because I was invited to try it. 8 weeks later, I have lost 18 lbs. Tomorrow I complete a 6 week challenge and I get to find out how many inches I’ve lost. I would never have achieved this if I hadn’t tried.

My bestie at work encouraged me to try online dating. My last post chronicles that experience. It will take me a while to get comfortable in the dating game. I wasn’t really expecting to meet ‘the one’ right out of the gate and feeling the momentum die down definitely didn’t feel all that great, but it was worth the try.

My sister from another mister encourages me every day. She is proud of me and supports me no matter what stupid daily decision I make. She says I inspire her because of how far I’ve come, she needs to know that because I know I have her, I know I have someone in my corner all the time. Even though she knows 9/10 I’ll probably fall on my face and she’ll have to pick up my broken pieces, she supports my tries. I have an excellent support system.

My family, my co-workers and I wish I could thank them all, and maybe I will if I try to write my story one day.

I may not always get what I want, I may get hurt and sometimes even sad, but no matter what, it has definitely been worth a try.