The title of this post may be misleading. I will no doubt continue to submit work and receive thanks-but-no-thanks responses, but this is my way of announcing that I am retiring this blog.
300rejections did exactly
what I set out for it to do: be a space where I put my writing out into the world. To be accountable to the thing I wanted so badly. This blog helped me stop talking about writing and actually write.
Four years into the
blog, I realized that celebrating rejections had morphed into manifesting
rejections, and it was time to break that cycle.
I owe this blog so much.
It has served as both an archivist and an archeology site. I poured my heart
out, examined my pain, and shared my insights. I am so grateful for the
readers who came along, read my work, and cheered me on—especially in 2015 when
I celebrated my 40th birthday with my 40/40 list and chronicled writing my
first work of fiction—during the process of getting a divorce.
All of that set the
ground work for my next chapter. A month before the pandemic shut everything
down, a writer friend helped me flesh out a new idea. It was going to require
technical support, so when we couldn’t leave our houses, I put the idea on the
back burner.
Then in November, I
shared the idea with Rob Bell and two other men who were attending the online
creative workshop my sister and brother-in-law gifted me as an early Christmas
present. Rob Bell helped me see my creative pursuits with a different lens and
combined with the insights he shared with the others, I left that Zoom meeting ready to
move the project to the front burner.
I hired a web design
firm! And together we’ve been working to birth this next creative
chapter, which will launch on November 1—a mere 361 days after Rob Bell laughed with
me as I said this idea out loud and encouraged me to go for it!
Your readership has been
an unfailing source of encouragement and motivation, and I hope you will join
me for the next leg of this journey.
The final lesson
300rejections taught me, and I wish to share with you is: Take your time. Dream
your dreams. Write them down attached to milestones and deadlines. Work day to
day toward your goals, but built into those plans and timelines, make space for
rest, ideas to marinate, the spirit to move, and a good dose of serendipity.I am ready for this next chapter only because I didn't rush it. I let it wash over me, sink in, and take root.
A wise friend told me, "It’s time to do something different. This blog has served you well, but now it’s time to move on." She told me that FOUR YEARS AGO! I quietly and with patience waited for the next right thing to come. I went about my business of reading, writing, mothering, exploring, gardening, thinking, being a friend. As I did those things, new ideas came to me. I welcomed them. I stayed calm and trusted that I would know when the time and conditions were right. As another friend taught me, I’m not a late bloomer—these things are happening right on time.
I am filled with excitement, confidence, and a dose of gumption. I have only a sliver of an idea where this new chapter will take me, but I am ready for the ride. My bag's packed, and I'm headed in a new direction. I hope you'll join me and invite others too.
