WORKS IN PROGRESS

Day 40.

Cannot believe it. But indeed, it is true.

The first 40 Days of Writing challenge concludes in less than an hour and as usual, I am writing like mad to get my daily submission posted before the clock strikes midnight.

Admittedly, I have not hit 100 percent.  I have not written every single day since our writing journey began in February.  But just about. And in the process of writing regularly and with relative frequency, my cyber penning muse has been reawakened. For that I am eternally grateful to the 40 Days of Writing gang o'mine.

At first -- in usual Ann Heise Kult fashion -- I silently berated myself for being some kind of quitter when, one night last week I plum ran out of emotional gas, physical energy and writing time. There I sat, all curled up nice and cozy in my bed -- in my attic writing room, no less -- hoping to punch out some witty, insightful  blog post in the late hours of the evening, when (with fingers posed at my laptop's keyboard) I fell sound asleep.

Yup. Snoresville, baby.

(Note to self: Ixnay on in-bed writing.)

I eeked out a post March 28 about wildly anticipating winning the Mega Millions lottery, and had every intention of writing every day since...but the cold, hard truth is, there are only so many hours in a day.

Alas, the past few days, I chose much-needed sleep and working outside in the abnormally-gorgeous early spring weather over writing. However, it was while raking up yet another pile of decaying brown leaves and yanking out dozens of dried fall sedum stalks to make way for new, green growth that I arrived at a reassuring truth about both my yard and my writing.

Both are works in progress. And that is perfectly OK.

Nothing to be ashamed of. A concept I need to embrace.

Yes, my yard and my writing have both taken a hit these past several years as I was knee-deep in raising my son, working, and just plain surviving the ever-hilly roller coaster called life. I fit in my blogging and my gardening between the inevitable ups and downs.

And, while Facebook and online political pontification had become a bit of a time-consuming obsession of late (a bit?), I must point out that if not for Facebook I would never have stumbled upon the 40 Days of Writing challenge.

Oh, the serendipitous beauty of never knowing how or when the seeds of creativity may be sown!

Anyway, as I look back at all I have written these past 40 days, and as I survey my weekend's worth of toiling in my yard, I see nothing but growth and progress. It is all coming together, slowly but surely.

Indeed, my garden and I, after a long, albeit unseasonably warm, winter's nap, are happily beginning to bloom where we are planted.

A big hug, smooch, pat on the back and heartfelt thanks to each of my fellow 40 Days of Writing companions who have also made this word-by-word, soul-awakening journey. It's been fun reading your stuff (all inspiring reads), getting to know you, and encouraging each other along the way.

And special thanks to my friends and family near and far who have been there rooting me on. Especially my husband, John -- a talented writer in his own right -- whose endless support of my writing is forever appreciated. Not to mention the fact that, without John's love of cooking and excellent laundry skills, both of us would have starved and gone to work naked these past 40 days.

Onward and upward!