Earlier this week, I wrote my one hundredth poem for the 200 Poems Project/Poem-A-Day Challenge (you can see some of those poems in the 200 Poems Project tab of this website).

ONE HUNDREDTH.

No matter how you slice it, that is a lot of poetry and big bundle of writing. Doing the challenge has given me a lot of creative freedom, and in some ways, it's been much lower pressure than writing can be and often is. This is my perspective on it: if I am writing a poem every day, then it doesn't really matter if today's is good. If it is the best thing I've ever written, that's great, but tomorrow before I go to sleep I'll have to write again. If I don't write something good, there's always tomorrow. I'll be writing a poem then, and maybe it will be better.

So far, this challenge has helped me learn to "show up and do it" with creative work. It's not so hard to just "show up and do it" at a job, but it can be easy to think I am supposed to wait for inspiration to strike. That's not necessary. What is necessary is the willingness to work on something I love every single day. That might not be poetry for you, but if there is a creative work that you enjoy, that you are scared to do or don't do often because your work needs to be "good," I would encourage you to join this challenge. Trust me, it's worth the work.