My friend Kate posted a 500 Word A Day Challenge this past March, and it was one of the best parts of that month for me. This speaks volumes, both about Kate’s ability as a writer and my ability to have exciting months. Ever since she finished (despite my near-daily pleas for her to continue), I’ve toyed with the idea of doing my own. And by “toyed,” I mean I’d write daily entries in my journal exhorting myself to start, but then I’d reread what I’d written and see a word like “exhorting,” violently roll my eyes and exhort myself to be less pretentious for the rest of the day.
Here’s the thing with me and challenges: I get very excited in the beginning, less excited three minutes into it, and then overwhelmingly resentful a full five-minutes after committing myself to something. I recognize this is a pattern I should work on and also the point of a challenge like this; by publicly pledging yourself to deliver 500 words a day for an entire month, you’re forced to get past that hump and see what’s on the other side (I’m hoping it’s a full head of hair). And so here I am, proclaiming on the internet that I’m going to write and share 500 words a day with you for the next month. I will try not to resent this.
While I’m busy promising things, here’s a couple more:
I promise to always be honest. Except when I need to embellish something to make my point. Or make you laugh. Or make me seem much cooler than I am. But other than that, total honesty.
I promise this won’t devolve into journal entries filled with banal details about what I did and ate that day (although I’m not promising I won’t talk about the inevitable three to seven dietary fads I will eagerly embark on in the next thirty days, probably using “exhorting” a couple more times without a trace of irony, i.e. “I exhort you to go gluten free with me!”)
I promise I will keep the mention of politics to a minimum, unless of course I can’t help myself, which seems likely BECAUSE IMPORTANT THINGS ARE HAPPENING AND WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION SHEEPLE.
I promise not to call you sheeple. Again.
I promise I will post a song with each entry, so just in case you hate the words I’ve written, you might walk away with a new song to enjoy because I’m a giver.
I promise some or most of these songs will be showtunes because I’m also very, very gay.
I promise not to post long quotes from other people just to burn through the word count.
I promise not to post long lists just to burn through the word count.
I promise to never say word count again.
(Word count.)
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I will see you tomorrow with 500 more words.*
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The first song I want to leave you with is a broken down cover of George Michael’s “Faith” by Sleeping at Last. Turns out, when you take away the 80s beat and George Michael’s tight jeans, you’re left with a song about valuing yourself enough to walk away from an empty hookup because you’ve got fai-fai-faith someone amazing will come along. “I need someone to hold me, but I’ll wait for something more” is something we’ve all needed to hear at least once in our lives, and will be painted on the sign I’ll be marching with at this year’s Pride Parade.
*Technically this was 496 words, so I owe you 4 bonus words in tomorrow’s post. I’m not promising they won’t be “here’s your four words.”
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This is post 3/30 in a 500 Word a Day Challenge - read them all here.