m o v e

6:00 AM



you may feel like you've been walking for ages
and the road, it doesn't end.
you may think you've accomplished nothing
and the list, it keeps going on.

your feet may have callouses
from the miles you've tread
and your bones may ache
from holding your weight for so long.
your eyes may be sore
your jaw may ache
and you may fear
it is all for nothing.

because when you look back
you recognize the terrain
and you might realize that
this whole time you've been walking
you haven't really gotten very far.
your steps have been too small
to cover much ground
and you've only made it
a couple of yards.

and when you see how much you've done
how little ground you've covered
you might throw up your hands in despair
because it wasn't worth it--those tiny steps
it wasn't worth it.

but wasn't it?

where would you be now
if you hadn't tried?
where would you be now
if you hadn't taken those little steps?
small, though they may be,
those steps are still steps
and steps carry you forward.
you cannot move
and stay where you are.

you may be slogging through mud
and your bones may scream
that's enough!
your eyes may protest,
it's not worth it!
and your lungs may heave,
give up!

 but look at the ground you've covered.
it may not be much
but it's something.
and do you know where you'd be
if you hadn't moved?
you'd be right back where you started.


~~~

Hey guys! How are you all doing? This installment of Hannah's Nano-Poems is short once again. I'm behind on nano but I'm determined to catch up this weekend. And I now have significantly more of a plotline? About 1/2? Mayyyybe 2/3? Anywho, I've made some progress, which is nice. And, as stated above, every step counts, no matter how small.

 How are you guys doing? Talk to me peeps! Are you behind? Hit the 50k? Do you have any other goals this month apart from the nano standard?

<3

Nano

b r e a t h e

6:00 AM



breathe.
in and out
closed lids
tongue between your teeth
fingers drifting on your keyboard

breathe.
the time is here now
you have no reason to be afraid

breathe.
i know you feel like
you won't make it
like these words you're crafting
can only take you so far
but you can make it.
i know you can.

breathe.
just a moment
a day
a month
but
you're here because you chose to be.

breathe.
nothing's keeping you
nothing's holding you down
you have wings of light and laughter to spread
and spread them if you must.

breathe.
you're not alone
you're okay
you're strong
and brave.

breathe.
you won't know if you can do this
until it's over
so instead of stopping,
quitting,
running

breathe.
and remember
it's okay.
the world stretches on
and it's so vast. 
it's waiting beyond your closed lids
ready for your eyes to feast.

breathe.
your heart is wide
and wider still it will beam.
it isn't over yet.


How are you all doing? Did you like this poem? If you did, let me know! I'm thinking of writing more during this month as mini motivators through the nano craze. 

<3

Will We Ever Measure Up?

6:00 AM

I remember when I was younger and I used to believe that the world was endless. It stretched on forever in every direction, and no matter where I went, I would be faced with billions of possibilities and even more wonders.

I'm older now and I know a little better. I know now that you have to do more than just step in a direction and hope for chances to come your way. You have to step up and stand firm. You have to charge full speed ahead and go at it with all you've got.

Because living isn't effortless anymore. It might have been easy as a child. There were no goals, no expectations. Life was all color by numbers and chapter books. Outside games and fights on the trampoline and trying to hold your breath the longest in the pool.

Now, living isn't always fun. It takes will and work. And there's this cloud of expectations looming overhead sprinkling the same thoughts on you again and again: "will I ever measure up?"

And when I look around at the people I pass every day I draw breath, I wonder, "who all is living? who all is trying? who all fears they'll never make it? who else thinks like me?"

I can't be alone in this. Can I?

So many eyes, watching. So many ears, listening. So many expectations. The pressure swells and burns, and sometimes ... it's too much.

But it doesn't have to be like that. 



Nano has the potential to be another one of those "to-do's". It's another accomplishment we have to check off our list, another thing we need to do. You have to write write write in order to be good enough, to fit in with the rest of us. And if you fall behind, well ... I guess you've lost. Unless you work work work yourself till drowning to catch back up to that standard you fell short of.

Writing is an art. There is no set standard for how to do any of it. There are no absolute rules, except maybe for grammar. There is a freedom that comes with writing. And with that freedom should come breath. 

 Remember who you are. Remember what you write for. Remember who you write for. There's always another draft. You're just a few brainstorming sessions away from working out that plot hole.

I'm going into this nano with no plotline and the barest idea of an ending. But I'm doing it, and I'm alive. It's so easy to feel like a failure. There are so many things to mess up on, so many little things to get wrong. But I beg you, take a breath and look at what you're doing. Don't try to make anyone happy. Don't try to write a perfect draft. Editing exists for a reason.

Have fun this nano. Let go of any pressure to hit that word count or write that perfect line.

Breathe. You are enough.

Sorry about my disappearance last week :P I had the ACT and then Trunk or Treat and work the night before and the post just didn't happen.


 How are you doing on nano? If you're not doing nano, how are you doing with your WIP?

<3

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