DAY 3 OF THE MARCH SOLSC! #SOL22

Thursday March 3, 2022Friday March 4, 2022 Stacey Shubitz

Welcome to the third day of the 15^th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge! How’s it going?

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This year, we have 91 first-time Slicers. Seventy-three of them have permitted me to share their user name, blog name, and URL with the entire community. If you’re a Seasoned Slicer, then please visit as many of their blogs as you can in the next week so they feel welcome.

sol22-first-time-participants-sheet1-1 Download

BE INSPIRED

Amy Spitzer, who blogs at Amy Ilene: Putting It All Out There, shared a piece, “Invisible Heaviness” that touched my heart in ways I wanted to articulate here — to the entire Slicer community — rather than as a comment on her post.
As we fall into the rhythm of this daily challenge, I encourage you to remove the veneer of perfection from your posts, which is something that I — even after 15 years of writing in a public space — still struggle with. I often worry about being too open and honest… what will my parents/husband/children think of my words? Will they feel comfortable if I share freely?

In “Invisible Heaviness,” Amy writes about the weight many of us carry around. Are we in a safe space to tell our stories? If we share too much, what will others think? Will we be judged for not realizing how good we have it compared to someone else? The list of questions goes on and on.
Towards the end of the post, Amy wrote:

Our stories are our own. They happened to us and they formed us into who we are, for better or for worse. Our stories are all that we have. When we feel the pull to diminish their importance or to dismiss the thing itself, we also diminish the impact that it has on us. But the impact is really what matters, and it is not for anyone else to determine if it is valid or not. In the telling of the story, we find an audience –sometimes an audience of only one– and we are able to clear the air just a bit, releasing the tension and lightening the load. In the telling about the heaviness, the veil drops and the truths are revealed. And, ultimately, once that happens, the air thins out and the darkness recedes, at least for a time.

As we inch towards the first weekend of this writing challenge, I encourage you to heed Amy’s words. Tell your stories. They’re going to act like a balm for you and possibly for other people who will connect with you because your words — your story — resonate with them.

QUESTIONS

Need to contact a co-author with a question? Please email us rather than leaving your question within your comment (below). Thank you, in advance, for your patience with us. We receive a high volume of emails during the first few days of the challenge. We will respond to all emails as soon as possible.

If you have questions about the individual challenge, you may contact one of these co-authors.

If your last name begins with the letters A – F, please email questions to Amy Ellerman at ellermanamy[at]gmail.com.
If your last name begins with the letters G – L, please email questions to Betsy Hubbard at betsymhubbard[at]gmail.com.
If your last name begins with the letters M – Q, please email questions to Beth Moore at beth[at]elizabethmoore.work.
If your last name begins with the letters R – U, please email questions to Melanie Meehan at meehanmelanie[at]gmail.com.
If your last name begins with the letters V – Z, please email questions to Stacey Shubitz at stacey[at]staceyshubitz.com.

If you have questions about the Classroom Challenge, which will take place next month, you may contact Kathleen Sokolowski at mrs.sokolowski[at]gmail.com.

Please note: We’re unable to respond to challenge-related questions via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels. View all posts by Stacey Shubitz