Tuesday, April 21, 2020

I Did it Anyway



They say the first time you do anything, you're going to be awkward. This is true no matter what you're learning. Zoom is no exception. It's an app all of us, whether you're 8, 18, or 80 have to settle for during this COVID-19 pandemic to stay connected to family, friends, and colleagues.

The first time I joined a Zoom meeting, the connection was lousy; so was my ability to navigate this unfavorable means of communication (I love face-to-face interaction any day). I couldn't easily hear everyone in the meeting. In order to hear at least something, I had to hold my smartphone close to my ear. This was too much to concern myself with for something I'm going to use for only a short time (this pandemic, too, shall pass).

Not long after that, I got another invitation to attend an ACFW meeting. My initial thought was I didn't want to have the same struggles with hearing everyone. However, the closer the time came for the meeting, the more I wanted to join it. I felt like a narrow-minded outcast displaying poor team spirit.

It bears mentioning on that day, I attended two Zoom meetings, back-to-back. The first one was with my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) small group. All went well with that meeting. And guess what? So did this one with ACFW. It was so nice to see not only Debra Jenkins and Kristi Cain, whom I have loved getting to know in a short period of time, but also some new people, one of whom was Burke Speed. I also loved having the opportunity to see Melissa Ferguson. Let me just say she is doing so well as an author. I was glad she had taken some time to speak with us, to offer us advice and encouragement.

It only made me look forward to this past Saturday morning's Word Weavers meeting. In the days leading up to it, I wondered how we were going to critique each other's writings, how we were going to arrange all of the meetings. Though the leaders of the two groups gave timely step-by-step instructions, it still wasn't clear to me. Nonetheless, I joined the meeting anyway. To make a long story short, everything went better than expected. I gave the best critiques to those who shared their works in progress. Best of all, I was re-inspired. This has been the best week of writing yet during this pandemic. I can't begin to think of how it would have been had I not attended these meetings.

Has there ever been something you've had to learn during some unforeseen circumstances that you were hesitant to try? If so, what was it? What did you do to overcome it?

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