JOIN: Celebrating Embracing the Suck

Every Saturday, join me as I CELEBRATE This Week 

with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.

Earlier this week, thanks to a friend, I discovered Gail Crust's blog. It's new! She's a new blogger and I was excited to read her first post. I remember when I first started blogging. A friend had suggested I try blogging and I had no idea what I was doing but I set up my blog and I started. That was in 2008. Since then, I've written tons of blog posts and connected with so many amazing people online and in real life. 

I especially love how Gail talks about being a writing teacher instead of a writing teacher...and she means a teacher who writes with kids instead of a teacher who teaches writing without also doing it herself. If only every student could have a teacher who writes. It makes a huge difference. In my comment to her I explained why i believe this is so important.

"My family and I went to an amusement park near us today and I saw a guy with a shirt that said, 'Embrace the Suck'. I have absolutely no idea what the shirt was referring to* but I was really close to asking him if I could take his picture because sometimes I really do feel like writing means embracing the suck. It's also embracing the creative life that comes with being a writer and the awesome...but there's a lot about writing that feels like "the suck". The thing is, if we (as teachers) are in the arena with them, it's more like being writers together rather than, like you said, being a writing teacher who doesn't write. I'll never forget when I started writer's notebooks with my students and I realized I was going to have to write in my own to model for them and write along with them...it felt like pressure but it was a good pressure because just having a notebook with them helped me start to think like a writer. I started noticing things so I could put them in my notebook and I still love my notebook. I love that I get to read your very first post and I'm excited to see where this writing journey takes you."

I looked it up and it seems that "embrace the suck" is a military term. You can read more about it in this NPR article here if you'd like.

My idea behind Story Exploratory was that it would be a place to share in the suck together...and to share in the fun and excitement of writing too. Brené Brown talks about being in the arena in Rising Strong and how your trust is different when someone is in the arena with you. 

I'm here. Living the writing life as best I can. Celebrating all that comes with it, the fun times and the suck. I'm glad you're here too!