Inter/National/World Whatever Day

Big, Important Decisions

Two weeks ago on March 8th, in honor of International Women’s Day, I joined a group project here on Substack to write a post about/inspired by women.  One week ago on March 15th, I wrote a post about my lack of sleep.  In the comments on that post,

Shital Morjaria

asked, “Is it a coincidence that today is World Sleep Day?!”  And here’s the thing - it was a coincidence!  I had no idea that last Friday was World Sleep Day!

That coincidence proved too much for me to ignore, and it led me down a bit of a rabbit hole.  Hmmm, I thought, could/should I figure out what the current International/National/World Day was and use it as a prompt for my writing this week?  Or every week?  Or just the, “I can’t think of anything to write,” weeks?

Writing prompts can be a great tool for getting onto paper something that’s been trapped inside my mind.  During my writing group this past Monday, I was given a prompt that helped me finally start writing about my husband’s stroke/brain surgery.  But it’s a big, important story.  It will take me a while to write it.

And that’s what I’ve been struggling with lately.  I am a slow writer.  There, I said it.

There have been some weeks lately that I have spent more hours writing my weekly post than I ever spent at my full-time job.  I’m not complaining.  I have nothing but gratitude for the people willing to read my stories and maybe even give me a little feedback.  When I retired just over a year ago, writing was the number one thing on my list of what I wanted to do with my free time the rest of my life.

But it’s not the only thing I want to do, and some of those other things are haunting me (maybe even causing lack of sleep?) because I’ve been neglecting them since my January commitment to post a story every week. I’m overwhelmed.

So I have a big, important decision to make.  It’s time for me to find some writing/other fun things/other big important things balance, but I don’t want to stop writing! Perhaps I could/should post only once a month, or every other week? Perhaps I could/should post my stories in a series, taking several weeks to tell a complete story? Perhaps I could/should set a time limit on my writing.  Say three hours.  Not every week. Just some weeks.

So what if I used the Inter/National/World Days topic as a random writing prompt just for today? See if it brings anything to mind that might be worth a short little three-hour story?

That could be fun to explore. It could be fun to read.  Maybe it’s worth a try. A sort of stream of consciousness type of thinking/writing, in a sort of laid back/non-committal kind of way. No pressure. No big, important decisions required just to try.

Let’s go with that for Just a Blink and see what happens.

I am writing this on Wednesday, March 20.  A brief search of the internet tells me that March 20 is International Peace Day.  But it’s also National Ravioli Day, National Macaroon Day, National #DogsinYellow Day, International Data Center Day, French Language Day, World Storytelling Day, Hufflepuff Pride Day, National Proposal Day, National Kiss Your Fiancé Day, Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day, National Snowman Burning Day, and also Alien Abduction Day.

I’m overwhelmed.  Who decides these days?  Who sits in their office or kitchen and thinks, “let’s have a special day once a year to honor data centers”?  That’s a rabbit hole I’m not willing to go down.

Since I want a writing prompt from just one of these special days, I can eliminate most of them in one fell swoop.  I am not fond of macaroons, don’t speak French, and don’t have a fiancé.  Data Centers – meh.  Married almost 40 years, not expecting any proposals today.  Burning a Snowman?  Not I.  Alien Abduction?  No way.  I just wrote about a woman neighbor on International Women’s Day, and there’s no ravioli in my freezer to microwave and write about. #DogsinYellow?  I don’t like days with hashtags in their name.

That leaves just three other special days to consider:  International Peace Day, World Storytelling Day, and Hufflepuff Pride Day.  Not bad choices, but I should figure out my Hogwarts House first to see if that’s even an option.  Wouldn’t want to write about Hufflepuff Pride if I’m a Slytherin.

Would you believe, there are several quizzes online to help me sort myself?  Of course you would.  I chose this quiz mostly because I didn’t have to provide my date of birth and email address to do it.  But it was not an easy quiz to take.  I had to look deep into my soul to answer the 17 questions as honestly as possible.  I’m definitely not sharing my answers to most of the questions.  No one needs to know what I would see in the Mirror of Erised or which Deathly Hallow I would choose.  But I will graciously share that I chose the following as the quote that spoke to me the most:

"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic." - Albus Dumbledore

What writer would/could choose any differently?

And I will also graciously share my results.  It turns out that I am, “31% Hufflepuff, 27% Gryffindor, 25% Ravenclaw, and 17% Slytherin.”

So Yay!  I can write about Hufflepuff Pride if I want to. 

BUT WAIT!  The past two weeks, I wrote about an Inter/National/World Day that fell on Friday, the day I published my post, not on the day I wrote the post. Sigh!

Let’s see what special days we honor on Friday.  March 22 is World Water Day, National Goof Off Day, As Young as You Feel Day, Gryffindor Pride Day, Bavarian Crepes Day, Daffodil Day, International Seal Day, National Donald Day, Talk like William Shakespeare Day, and also Talk Like William Shatner Day.

I’m overwhelmed.  Again.  Many of those could/would/should make good writing prompts.  At just shy of 61, I could easily write about As Young as You Feel Day.  I could write about World Water Day too since I live in Arizona and we are running out.  I could probably go back and re-take the quiz until the results sorted me into Gryffindor. (It was my second strongest house, after all, but it feels like something a Slytherin would do, and I am only 17% Slytherin.)  I might even be able to write about seals, daffodils, or Bavarian crepes.  But I don’t know anything about talking like a William. And I do not want to write about Donalds.  Not I.  No way. That’s another rabbit hole I’m not willing to go down.

So now I have a different big, important decision to make. Which Inter/National/World Day should I write about? …

…

…

…

I have made the big, important decision, and I am at Peace with it. I have decided that I’ve already honored World Storytelling Day.  Hopefully I’ve also honored Albus Dumbledore and created just a little bit of magic.

And my time is up, so now I’m off…

Off to honor National Goof Off Day. (Or have I already honored that Day as well?)

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My “rabbit hole,” lovingly made by my mom.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! What’s your Hogwarts House? Do you have a favorite Inter/National/World Day? Did you find any magic in my story today? How do you find balance between writing and other fun/big/important things in your life?