As I’ve written before, I’ve taken some time off from volunteering. I’m so excited to have free time again. My intention was to spend it with my daughters, but they’re old enough to entertain themselves now, so I’m left to my own devices. And it’s wonderful! (happy dance, happy dance.) But as soon as I put my pen down on the last few tasks of 2018, I had enrolled in a writing course and work got busy and we were off, touring colleges for my oldest daughter.
But this busy is different. It’s for me and my family. I’ve been a volunteer since I was sixteen years old. I took a few years off when work or school became too much. But the moment I have free time, I’m filling it. Unfortunately, a lot of my volunteer work recently has felt a lot like my job, sitting alone at a computer crunching numbers. I only work part-time to give me time to help with my family and time to write. So I started to feel like I was “working for free”. This is nobody’s fault but mine. And of course, they were for things I cared deeply about.
Making a resolution to say no, has helped me immensely. There’s already been a few times I can feel my arm itch when a good cause calls. And honestly, it even feels a little selfish of me not to be doing more. But I’ve found another way to help. Now that I have free time, I can actually go to other people’s fundraising events. I don’t have to organize them, or track the funds; I can just participate.
In February, I attended the South Grey-Bruce Youth Literacy spelling bee. This is a fun night out and a fundraiser for youth literacy in our area. And I got to be with people. This was its sixth year. I haven’t been since the first one. And I used to be a literacy volunteer! I just didn’t have time. A friend asked me this year and we had so much fun preparing that we’re getting together throughout the year for fun around a literary theme. We’re all busy moms and our kids have grown to that age where we can have some adult time together. Yay. We have a scrabble game coming up!
And here’s something else I’ve never volunteered for before, a novel writing marathon. Many of my fellow writers have done them and swear by them as a good way to get a lot of words down all while helping a good cause. This is a three-day writing marathon in Owen Sound at the Ginger Press, our local independent publisher. (And publisher of our Ascribe short-story collection.) All funds go to the Adult Education Centre in Owen Sound. I’m looking forward to it as it combines three of my loves: writing, volunteering, people!
I also hope it helps me to write in longer sprints. Not having much time has meant I’ve learned to write in short bursts. While sprinting has it’s place, I’m looking to build stamina with this marathon!
And if you’re in Owen Sound on the weekend of April 25th to the 28th, drop by and join some frazzled, but happy writers–this is what I’m imagining–for a coffee or just to see us at work, finally!
And here’s the ask. To participate, we each have to raise $250. If you have a moment and a few dollars, please contribute here:https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/novel-writing-marathon/
And if you’re interested in learning more about the South Grey Bruce Youth Literacy Council, please visit here: http://sgbyouthliteracy.org/
And here’s a link to the Ginger Press: http://gingerpress.com/
And to our local library: https://olco.ent.sirsidynix.net/client/en_US/owensound
