Friday, May 02, 2014

how far i've come

On Tuesday night, I had the privilege to participate in Blog Out Loud Ottawa. This was my third time attending and my first as a reader. I was very nervous.



But it was a wonderful experience. Tim and Sacha (my teenage son) attended as well as several supportive friends (I hope they realize how buoyed I was by their presence). My reading went very well. The crowd was so supportive that they made it easy. It certainly sounded better to me than it ever did in practice.

If you're a blogger and you ever get the chance to read in front of a supportive group - do it!

I read a post called "learning to breathe'" that resonated with a lot of people when I first posted it. It was written last November, a year after my brain surgery. As I said at the beginning of my reading, "...each blog post is a snapshot of my life at the time of writing. If I were to take a snapshot today, it would show how far I've come."

I am more open.

I am more resilient.

I am more willing to face my anxiety.

I am more hopeful.

I am less afraid.

It's a really good feeling to aware of this progress. 

My blogging over the last year has been pretty sporadic. And I'm not sure what the future holds. But I know I want to keep writing. And sharing.

I am so grateful to BOLO organizer Lynn Jatania, to Ottawa's blogging community and to the Writers Festival for the renewed inspiration.

Stay tuned. I'm pretty sure more change lies ahead.

Upate: BOLO has posted links to all the posts from Tuesday night. And look! That's me on stage in my red dress.

4 comments:

tccomments2013 said...

...and you look FABULOUS!!! so thrilled for you feeling the after-glow effect of your amazing reading.

much love,

Karen xoxo

Unknown said...

You're very inspirational Laurie! Happy for you!
Xoxox Jo

Nancy's Point said...

It's so wonderful that you did this. I'm proud of you, but more importantly, I bet you're proud of yourself. I am a horrible speaker, so I'm in awe of those who do it well. I loved that post, "Learning to Breathe". I'm curious about all those changes ahead, and I'm really happy to hear more writing is part of your future plan! Congrats to you.

laurie said...

Thanks all! If you ever get the chance to do anything like this, DO! Even if you think you can't, it wil be worth it.