Monday, May 9, 2016

A to Zed -a reflection

I enjoy doing this else why would I?  I get out of it, like everything else, close to what I put in. I don't do it to gain new readers, which at the moment is not my aim. I take part for a few reasons - like going to a yearly party -I like to see how others are faring. I also like the challenge part of it - though truth told, I don't find it all that arduous.  Reminds me of when I did the Dublin Marathon and the organizers of our charitable group (Canadian Arthritis ) said it would be the most important thing we ever did - it would change our lives!! It would!! No it wouldn't.  Having babies, meeting Buddhist teachers, falling in love, finishing a play - all of these events and others would outweigh walking around a gorgeous flat city all day. Just saying. Perspective people. 80 thousand folks just lost their homes when Fort McMurray burned to the bedrock - now that's a challenge.

So - l liked seeing my pals, and I liked meeting the challenge.  What else did I like? My theme turned out great. Finding  35 women who inspired me ( l doubled up some) was great and explaining how they inspired me got me inspired all over again. And seeing what others came up with -what rocked their metaphorical boat - well, that inspired me too. And let's not forget that I was writing. Writing is great, especially when I've been deep in queryville.

So there you go!
I'll hook up to the linky as soon as l can.

Oh and here is a list of my women:

Louisa May Alcott 
Boadicea
Emily Carr 
Emily Dickinson and Annie Dillard
Elizabeth 1
Pamela Frankau and Elena Ferrente
Sue Goyette and Artemisia Gentileschi 
Zora Neale Hurston 
I (as in me)
Pauline Johnson 
Frida Kahlo
Ursula K. Le Guin
Lucy Maude Montgomery and Joni Mitchell 
Florence Nightingale 
Georgia O'Keefe and Mary Oliver
Pema Chodron and Nancy Porter-Steele 
Harriet Quimby 
R is for my best friend 
Sappho, Stevie Smith and Anne Sexton 
Sojourner Truth
Jane Urquhart 
Sarah Vaughan 
Rebecca West and Virginia Woolff 
Xue Tao
Yoko Ono
Andrea Zittel

8 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Jan! Great list of writers here.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed your choice for doing this challenge, Jan. I learned more about some strong female role models than I'd known, and I enjoyed your takes on them, too! Well done!

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I want to go back and read all of your April posts, to learn more about these women. I'm reading a book now by Rebecca West thanks to your post on her.

Pat Garcia said...

I will take the time to go through your posts because I did not get the chance to read as many as I wanted to. However, your theme interested me greatly.
All the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Patricia

ShannonAnn said...

Congratulations on finishing your challenge for April! I'm very interested in the women you chose to write about and will go back to read all your posts. You are an inspiration too! Thank-you! :)

Random Musings said...

If I'm honest, I do like gaining new readers, but I also like finding new blogs I may not have found other wise. Great theme and great list of women :)
Debbie

Unknown said...

I'm just now finding your blog and I love your theme. You have some great names listed. Years ago I wrote a children's biography of Frida Kahlo and absolutely loved researching her. Did you read Hayden Herrera's biography of her? So good. Anyway - will def go back through some of your posts. One of my favorite topics.

Arlee Bird said...

I like your outlook about this. A party--that's what I've compared A to Z to at times as well. Anyone who is not having fun with the "Challenge" needs to reevaluate why they are doing it.

Thanks for your Reflections about the April Challenge.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out