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I know I'm a little late in writing the reflections post, but better late than never right? April has been a wonderful month in more ways than one and this A to Z challenge sure made it a memorable one. When I took up the challenge last year, my theme was random and hence it was easy to write about everything that I wanted. But this time I decided to pep it up a little and challenge myself more. I chose a theme and me being me it had to revolve around love. Shades of love was revealed as my theme for the A to Z challenge 2015. When I decided on the theme, I thought that it would be easy to write about love and its various shades. But as the challenge progressed, I began to run out of ideas. The worst part was that I was neck deep in work and hardly had any time to write or schedule posts. Every post was written on the same day and published immediately. I started off well.
Awakening came out good as a stand alone piece, but it left lots to imagination in the end. Maybe someday I will make a complete story out of it. Nothing brewing in my mind as of now, but one day I surely will complete it. Black & White was really close to my heart as I love black and white photography. The Magpie prompt was perfect to bring out this poem. It was written in under fifteen minutes and I was lucky to have the words flow out of my heart. Cinderella was conceived when I couldn't sleep at night wondering what to write the next day. I just thought about the fairy tale and decided to add the twist of a woman's love for shoes in it. It worked well and people liked it. Doll House was another impulse. I read about a divorce case in the papers and wanted to write about it. Calling it divorce would have been too negative, hence I chose to show it via a child and her doll house.
Ex Files was something that I wanted to write since a while, but never came around. But when the letter E started back at me, I knew it was about time I wrote it. F could not have been anything else apart from Food. My love for food has always been the purest and it sure had to find its way here. God was a controversial subject and no where related to love. Then I saw a Facebook page called I Love God. That sealed the deal for me. People love God more than they love themselves. That is what I tried to show there. Hunt was written when I had just five minutes to spare. I had no clue what to write and just checked the five sentence fiction and friday fictioneers page. An idea struck and out flowed a revenge drama. Illusion had to be written considering all the recent events regarding women and feminism. It was my take on the #MyChoice video.
Joker would be my most creative post. I was thinking of writing about the love for life through a game of cards and this is how it turned out. Kohl was a very personal post as I know someone who has undergone a similar situation. Kohl also is a very important part of my life and I had to give it a tribute. Lust is my favorite sin and I can write forever about it. Last year I wrote about love and this year it had to be about lust. The Marriage post was straight from the heart based on my surroundings. I see so many women struggling to handle marriage and work and in-laws. I wanted to show that a marriage is only between two people. Everyone else is an outsider and you should not think about what they think about you. Nidhi had to be written considering how girl children are treated these days. Ocean Of Life was an extension of Nidhi as well. When I saw the picture prompt on Magpie the title flashed in my mind and I stuck to it. Thankfully I found words to do justice to the title and the picture.
Pretense was my least creative post. I have written two similar posts earlier and now I wonder why I chose to write on the same lines. Maybe lack of time or tiredness. Quill was another story that had been brewing in my mind since a long time. None of my grandparents are around anymore and this was my tribute to them. Rain had to be a post when the theme was love. I love the picture that I found to go with the post. Scars is and will be the post that is closest to my heart. It is me stripped of every veneer in that post. Travel is another love of mine that I recently discovered and since I was traveling soon, I had to write about it. Us is again another personal post. It is all about the problems we faced as a couple and how we stood by each other and faced it together. Just us, no one else.
Viscious Cycle was triggered due to recent events. I wanted to keep it crisp and small, but I am not used to short poetry. Hence the idea of a picture poem came up. Work is my worship and my first love. I respect anyone who work for a living and I wanted to show that in my post. X-Rated Hypocrisy is my most realistic post till date. I have lost count of the number of times middle aged/old women have asked me about my sex life and connect everything in the world with sex. I had to get out my frustration. Yellow was conceived when I sat with my yellow coffee mug reading the newspaper and noticed how much I loved that cup. And anything yellow for that matter. Zoe was all about me. The she is the post is actually I and my best friends actually do call me Zoe. The post was scheduled as I was travelling the previous day, and I wanted it to be the finale to the challenge. That post is my reflection. In every possible way.
So that was it, reflections about all my posts. I tried to stick to the theme as much as possible and I think that every post does speak about a shade of love. Even if it is just a tinge. I am so proud of all the bloggers who took up this challenge and stuck to it religiously. I met so many new writers and was awed by their spirit and dedication. Challenges like these make me feel so proud about being a part of this blogging world and actually succeeding at it.
I survived the A to Z challenge two years in a row! Now, let me go have my cup of tea.
Do let me know which was your favorite post among all these in the comments!
Congrats on completing the challenge - two years in a row!
ReplyDeleteI read a couple of posts and loved the way you weaved each story! great job!
Thank you Parul! :)
DeleteIt was great to connect with you through this challenge Soumya! I loved your posts on Marriage, Travel and Scars :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Shilpa. I loved your posts too :)
DeleteCongrats on completing the challenge. Your A-Z posts were fantastic. I especially loved your stories. I missed an opportunity to participate this year but next year may be.
ReplyDeleteThank you Harini. Do participate next time.
DeleteCongratulations ! I will be reading all of them, such interesting thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThank you ma'm.
DeleteCongrats on completing the challenge!! That was a nice round up of your posts and it was nice reading them..i loved all of them but my fav were Kohl and Rain..
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Titli!
DeleteJust now getting around to visiting the blogs in the challenge. April was a busy month for me. Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!
ReplyDeleteMary
www.JingleJangleJungle.net
Hello there.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on completing the challenge! I like how you did your reflections post. I didn't get to visit your blog during the crazy month of April so I'm popping over today from the Road Trip.
Entrepreneurial Goddess