Embrace Your Destiny: What Am I Doing?

 

Memoir Group Zoom Meeting

"Let’s see. This piece is going to be about memoir group. Our zoom meeting is tomorrow and I can’t go empty handed.Their feedback keeps me going.”

I have this conversation with myself often because I get confused. My purpose for doing memoir and blogging is to tell my Multiple Sclerosis story.

 

I did a Toastmaster project that challenged me to write eight blog posts in a month. The goal of the project was to increase blog readership and comments. I need both. Before, I didn’t have the know-how or the incentive to improve the blog. Recently, I’ve been very inconsistent in posting.

Receiving a certificate from Carol

Toastmasters, blogging, and memoir writing are interwoven in my mind. Most of what I do for either one is about MS story. What is different is how I put it together. For the memoir, I try to paint word pictures of my experiences. Memoir group feedback has been to include more stories about how I feel or my reactions. For the blog, I am always thinking about pictures to help tell my story.

I started blogging several years ago after Toastmaster Ron talked about blogging in a speech he did for the club. He said, “If you aren’t blogging to tell your story, you’re missing out. Blogging reaches a whole new audience.” That’s when a light bulb exploded in my head. “Maybe blogging would help me with the memoir I’ve been thinking about doing.” Of course, Ron assured me blogging was easy to do.

Toastmaster Ron

Not for me! My learning curve was straight up! To get started, I talked with friend Peggy. She said,“You need a good platform, a consistent style, and lots of pictures”. Writing was the easier part. Everything else was challenging, especially the pictures.

After doing the Toastmaster challenge, I am proficient with pictures and my process for posting is consistent. That has cut down on how much time I spend doing one post. I did get more readers and more comments, so more frequent posting is better.

Memoir group snuck up on me. I found a weekly Memoir focused class that has evolved into a small learning group of really smart, well read, interesting people. Connie, the teacher started us with the basics about the memoir genre and how to make it interesting. We learn about writing by writing.

Writing something to share every week has been a good discipline for me. I have content, but it’s all over the place. My next big project is to organize the content. Should I start at the beginning, middle or end of this MS journey? I’m playing with possibilities.

Memoir Writing Tools

Trying to keep my mind sharp is the reason I’m doing all three activities. The cognitive element of MS symptoms was low priority in the early years of my diagnosis. Now the cognitive and psychological symptoms are front and center stage. As I age, I am in double jeopardy of symptoms worsening. This Primary Progressive form of MS gets worse as I age.

Let’s see, “Is this piece a memoir or maybe blog? Can I find pictures? Yes, I can! I’ll do it for both. Mark in memoir group says I have a distinct  ‘voice’. I wonder if my ‘voice’ is consistent in my blog and Toastmasters? I’ll ask the memoir group.”