An Invitation to Celebrate by Ashley Mayes

The word celebrate is derived from the Latin verb "celebr-", which means “frequented, or honored.”
Together, these two words suggest both regularity and reverence, like we might see when we attend birthdays, weddings, and graduations.

We can also use these two words when it comes to our celebrating our own writing habits.
In fact, several questions come to mind when I think of celebrating my own writing with frequency and honor.

Am I writing often?

Am I treating my writing self and process with honor?

Can I still honor my writing when not writing regularly? 

To answer these questions we can look at how we celebrate other important occasions.  When we celebrate momentous occasions, we do so with preparation, planning, and with a reverence toward the ones we love and toward tradition.

Can’t we celebrate our own writing in the same way?

Of course, we can.

We should first begin with the understanding all of us approach writing and our writing routines differently. The point is to find a routine that works for you.

For some, this means to write daily.  For others, it might be writing weekly. And still, for others, it may be word count or amount of lines.   Can you see how important it is to celebrate what works for you?

Now this may come to you as either a seismic shock or sign of relief: as a teacher and mother of four, my routine--admittedly--is sloppy.

And guess, what?

I am going to honor that.  I am going to honor the fact I was able to sit down and write--regardless of the outcome.  I am going to honor the fact writing is a process--regardless of where I start or where I end.

I am going to celebrate my writing, and I invite you to do the same.



Ashley Mayes lives in a tiny town near a big river smack-dab in Central Idaho.  This is where she teaches ELA 8th-12th grade and serves as district librarian and library media specialist K-12.  She is in love with her family, her students, her profession.  She enjoys digging deep into what really matters while appreciated the simplicity of such things as coffee.  You can follow her on Twitter @ajmayes1974.