February Lessons

At the beginning of this, my birthday month, I gave myself the gift of office hours and the challenge of posting every day for the month of February.

As far as presents go, they were spot on.

By setting specific office hours -- a blocked time period in which to write, work, and answer emails -- I was much more productive. I no longer dragged my work with me throughout the day; instead, I worked during my allotted time, and then moved on to other things.

With the daily posts came some interesting discoveries. Amazingly, writing never became a chore, and throughout the day I learned to gather nuggets of inspiration, store them, and bring them out later in my writing. I also learned to write without worrying about being perfect. I didn't agonize over word choice, or phrasing, or even sentence structure. I simply wrote.

So, the month is over. Now what?

I will continue with my office hours, and I will continue to post ... although I probably won't post every day. When I made the birthday pledge I didn't factor in Lent and my Lenten resolve to tackle a certain project, which is what I really need to be concentrating on during this period.

But February turned out to be a very good month.

A very good month, indeed.



The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.

Through clouds like ashes
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Afternoon in February