An email confirms it—I am going to attend the “first ever Slicer Meet-up” at 11 a.m. today, EST, which means 8 a.m. for me, a mere two and a half hours from now. When I decide to throw my hat in the ring, or my face in the gallery, as Zoom would have it, I wonder why. I am curious and also wondering whom of the bloggers I have read, some even followed, will be there.
I am also, if I’m honest, listening for more ideas for writing. There will be stories here and writing seeds to sprout. In this confirmation email, Stacey is asking for our permission to shoot a screenshot to post in Monday’s welcome. She, too, is thinking ahead.
This is year five for me, and the words, “first ever,” take me back to March 2018 when I nervously accepted the commitment of daily writing for an audience. I had begun my “retirement journals” in earnest at the airport the day I was flying out of Philadelphia to relocate in my birthplace, the home of my heart, Oregon, on an August afternoon, 2017. But writing for an audience, actually crafting something with the expectation that someone might read it? Daunting.
In Ruth Ozeki’s novel A Tale for the Time Being,(worth reading if you’ve never done so), her teen character Naoke says, “If I thought the world would want to know about old Jiko, I’d post her stories on a blog, but actually I stopped doing that a while ago. It made me sad when I caught myself pretending that everybody out there in cyberspace cared about what I thought, when nobody really gives a shit. And when I multiply that by all the millions of people in their lonely rooms furiously writing and posting to their lonely little pages that nobody has time to read because they’re all so busy writing and posting, it kind of broke my heart.” The Slice community is the antidote to that, at least for the month of March and every Tuesday, too.
I believe in this community. So here I am, undertaking another “first ever” and tingling at the prospect. What “first evers” have become second nature to you now? Looking forward to joining fellow Slicers at 8 a.m. PST!
Jump off; Find Wings 
I look forward to reading some posts tomorrow describing the meeting and all of the wonderful ideas that were discussed.
We just wrapped up. It was terrific. I’ll have more to say, for sure.
I enjoyed reading your slice. Yes many years ago I also dared to publish my writing here. I never thought of myself as a writer, but I am glad I dared to present then. The feedback gave me the confidence to persevere. Now I write and publish and have been doing so since 2017 and on some Tuesdays.
Thanks for reading. I loved reading about your idyllic Mother’s Day. From your description it’s clear that you are beloved.
Good for you! In preparation for this year’s challenge I got to join a hype session with lots of familiar names and faces and it was indeed delightful. It’s in those moments that the community we feel through writing become just that much more concrete.
Hello Trish!
It was so nice to ‘see’ you this morning. It was so nice to place faces with blogs.
Cheers,
Heidi
Trish, what a fun anticipatory post about the meet-up. It is neat to think that in 15 years of #SOL, this was the first meet-up. That in itself made me want to join in the fun. That quote by the character Naoke is mournful and humbling, but I love your response to it. “The Slice community is the antidote to that, at least for the month of March and every Tuesday, too.” Amen!
It was great meeting you in person (Zoomishly) this morning, Trish.