This week went by so fast I didn’t even think of the ten thing of thankful blog hop while living through it.
It felt as if I blinked, and it was already gone.
So as you can probably tell, I’ve been very busy, and I feel as if I haven’t had much time to sit down and reflect.
However, I will try to find the ten things—because participating in it truly brings that “ahh, life is beautiful” feeling to the end of the week.
The other hoppers’ posts of the week can be read here.
Ten Thing of Thankful #3
First—I have to once again bring up the community of the Six-Sentence blog hoppers.
As a writer, I always felt I was far too different to truly fit in, but the more I write, the more I begin to see my own evolution. Writing is a skill, yes—but also a way to stay creative, and that creative part of me is something that keeps me going through the hectic end-of-semester days.
And as a bonus, I get to read so many other creative minds.
Second—it has finally gotten warm. The other day we had snow again, and this weekend was the first time I could go outside without a jacket, sit on a bench in the park with people, and have a chat without freezing to death.
Third—my second family in Tallinn, the people I rent a room from.
They have become great friends with my mother as well, and this weekend they went to help her with garden work. I couldn’t go myself, which did make me feel a little guilty—but I’m also incredibly grateful they were willing to help her.
It’s a hectare of land, and every spring there is so much to clean up. She couldn’t do it alone.
Fourth—the end of the semester.
While I am very stressed at times because there is so much to do, summer is getting closer. Soon I’ll be able to take a few trips abroad and finally relax a little.
Right now, though, it feels like I’m running on fumes.
Fifth—music.
As cliché as it may sound, I’ve been listening to music a lot lately, along with reading other blog hoppers’ creations. It’s become a way for me to relax—before sleep, or when I wake up.
I can’t really imagine my life without it currently.
Sixth—thinking of things to be thankful for.
It’s like a small reset for my brain every weekend, at least for the past few weeks. And reading what others share has been just as meaningful.
Seventh—my coursemates, with whom I’m writing a huge paper for one course.
As a writer, it may sound a bit strange, but this semester I had no idea what to write about. They came up with a really good idea, and somehow the creative juices started flowing again.
The lecturer even said it was an interesting concept for a company—so now all that’s left is to present it.
Eighth—the course where I have to write technical blog posts in my native language.
I never thought I could write anything interesting in that space, but so far I’ve been mentioned in almost every weekly post by the lecturer (almost... except one).
One of my coursemates even said that if they ever saw my writing somewhere, they would immediately know it was mine.
It has also made me much more aware of structure in my creative work. And strangely, I can see how my writing here—on the Sixes—has become more intentional as well.
When I reread some of my older work, it felt like something has gone missing in the new… but perhaps it’s not a bad thing to become more aware of structure...
Ninth—a suggestion to check out the dVerse poetry from last week.
I’ve been reading a lot and leaving comments too—not because I expect anything in return, but simply because I genuinely enjoyed the work.
I do have a few pieces I’d like to share in the open link-up myself in the future. But for now, I’ve found so many wonderful writers there that it has reignited my passion for reading. I am just devouring poetry at this point lol.
Tenth—my bed, lol.
Yesterday I woke up almost at noon, went out for a walk to the park with a few people, came home, and fell asleep again. I woke up in the evening, scrolled on my phone for a bit, and then fell asleep again before my spouse even came to bed.
I was so tired—I really needed that.
Perhaps I could invite you to read more of my work:
If you like short stories I have them scooped up into one category (including the six-sentence stories).
Or perhaps I could interest you in poetry and refections or something more personal like the Blog.
I also happen to own an IT studies blog in Estonian and "Chaos in Spring" can be listened to on YouTube, Spotify and other streaming services.
‘cellent TToT
funny thing about this community, blogging in general and TToT in particular, there is a pleasingly broad spectrum of writers/people producing very creative content. Even in the niche of grat blogs, the variety of views (as rendered in rhetoric and implied in the sense of a different world outside the window of each writer, just never gets old.
Am of the opinion that this (the TToT) has been around as long as it has, (since, like 2013 or something*), because of the atmosphere of celebrating and being supportive of creativity in our efforts. That and the exercise of appreciating (our respective) worlds/realities in the process of doing a list is beneficial.
and then there’s the thing about ‘identification’** as it occurs at different times round here. I often get as much out of reading lists as writing them.
in your Grat# 8: “One of my course mates even said that if they ever saw my writing somewhere, they would immediately know it was mine.” Surely that is one of the coolest stages of this writing thing, i.e. when we realize we’ve developed ‘a voice’ in our writing.
*which is saying something, as blog years are even more leveraged in reality than dog years
** that truly cool state of reading a view of the world written by a total stranger and have a sense of ‘knowing how they feel’
Thanks for the comment Clark, they are always much appreciated and fun to read.
Yes it actually felt like a compliment when he said that and this blog hop is very beneficial. I think people should do something similar outside of blog-hops too.
And this community of writers has given me a lot, beyond what it was created for.
Thank you once again!