It started with one decision.
“I’m going to write every day.”
Then it started with one word. Well, two words: “My draft”
I had written a few articles that I published on Medium. I spent a lot of time on each article and made sure it was completely polished before publishing. Do I really want to just write whatever comes to mind and publish it right away for the world to see?
I guess so.
It started with one post on December 4, 2018. It’s a silly little post about cold cough drops. I didn’t know whether anyone would even read it. Sure enough, one day later @basilesamel gave me a welcome message. There’s a reason I notice each new writer on 200WAD and welcome them. This is how I started.
It started with one post.
My 30th post on January 3, 2019, was nothing special. It was when I declared notifications to be the enemy of focus. I consider 30 days in a row of writing to be very special. That’s when I invite you to join #Teamstreak. Some people stay for the long haul and others drop out almost as soon as they join. That’s okay because if nothing else, you proved to yourself that you can take action 30 days in a row. Many people don’t even get that far.
#Teamstreak proper was not born until April 7, 2019. By then I had reached 125 days.
I would like to spotlight the people who were on the original #Teamstreak and are still here:
@basilesamel
@valentino
@jasonleow
@knight
@articloon
@keni
@lucjah
@dontheideaguy
@efran
It starts with one word, then another, then another, and finally at least 200. Day after day after day until maybe you reach 30 days and join #Teamstreak and realize that you have found other people who are working toward similar goals. These people have a deeper why. You reach 60 days and 100 days and 200 days and 300 days (badges and badges, oh my!) and finally the arbitrary length of time anyone can comprehend: one year.
When you are in front of that blank screen, it can feel very lonely. You are one writer. It’s just you and your thoughts that you transcribe into words. Writing is a lonely job but you are not alone writing in this community.
Life beats us down. We get unlucky. Trying to live a healthy and productive life is hard work. And some days you just don’t feel like you want to keep going, especially in the beginning. Then you read an uplifting comment on one of your posts. You look at the Fellowship page and see all the people who have contributed so much. You see people writing about vulnerabilities and failures and questioning why they are here. But they’re still here. We are together here as one community.
One love
One blood
One life you got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life but we’re not the same
We’ve got to carry each other
Carry each other
One
If you are a Millenial and just hearing this song for the first time, you’re welcome.
We’re one but we’re not the same. We’ve got to carry each other.
You’ve got this and I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere.
One.