The first time I took up the A to Z challenge was in 2014, and since I was new to it then, I had no theme. I just wrote about what ever I felt like. The posts were decent enough but nothing great, still I managed to complete the challenge successfully. In 2015, I wanted to have good quality posts and went with my strength back then and chose ‘Shades Of Love‘ as my theme. Most of my posts included fiction and poetry which I seldom write now. Not too sure how and why the transition happened though. This time, the posts were good and I was enjoying the challenge much better. For 2016, I wanted to have more personalized posts, so the theme I went for was ‘All About Me‘, and although it sounds easier to talk about oneself, I wasn't too sure about what I wanted to share with the world and what to keep private. It wasn't an easy battle, but I managed to complete it successfully.
By 2017, my writing had evolved a lot and so had my reading. I was doing quite a few book reviews on my blog and people were appreciating it. So the theme for the year was pretty easy to choose. ‘All About Books‘, was probably the best A to Z challenge of mine so far. Including this year. I had a ball talking about authors, books, characters and everything that I loved about them. It was a pretty easy challenge as I had all of it sorted out from day one. No scheduled posts, but I knew what I wanted to write about. For 2018, I had two themes in mind. One was way too personal and I was really skeptical about talking about it. Mental health isn't given the importance it has to get in today's world and I wasn't sure if people would understand if I shared my experience. So, I went in for the next option, ‘Movies I Love‘.
I have been a fan of movies ever since I can remember. As a child, with only Doordarshan, I used to wait every Sunday at 4PM to watch the movie they would play. Since the movie would not be announced anywhere, it would be a surprise to all of us. When cable TV came in, so did the rush of movies. I got some flak for my A to Z this year, as many people thought that I was only focusing on English movies and I that I was hugely under the influence of the west. Well, I have always liked their movies much better than any others. Growing up, I watched a lot of English movies, that helped me improve my language and taught me so much about life. So yes, I like them better because they are so well made. I like movies that strike a chord with me. I have watched a lot of French and German movies too. Be it any language, it should leave a decent impact. All the movies that I chose this year as part of my A to Z, has been very dear to me. I'm very glad that people appreciated my choices too.
This year, A to Z for me was all about persistence. Having just come back from a vacation to piles of work, there was barely any time for me to write. Since I had to do it everyday, it was almost next to impossible. I wanted to give up after the first post, then after the second, then after the third. But making it to a fifth consecutive year successfully sounded so good, that I had to push myself hard. Plus, I never give up on anything that I voluntarily start. So, I had to go on this time. With the support of fellow A to Zers and my husband at home, I was able to complete another A to Z challenge successfully.
Apart from writing, it was really hard for me to keep up with the reading. But I took out time everyday just to read and share blogposts from the other bloggers who were doing a fab job at A to Z. Shilpa and her brilliant tales from the road taught me so much about travel and has helped me plan my forth-coming travels much better. Another Shilpa taught me so much about blogging and ways to increase your audience. Natasha's anecdotes were life lessons in itself. Her fiction and spiritual experiences have made me more sorted and spiritual today. Vidya's posts helped me work on myself and become a much better person. Shalini's book reviews were top-notch and have increased the size of my TBR list considerably. Ramya's women in books was a powerful take on some of the most loved/hated female protagonists of the literary world. Reema introduced me to so many beautiful words that I have written down almost all of them and am trying to use them in poetry someday. Roshan's posts on Heroes of Kindness restored my faith in humanity. I have been so inspired by these amazing bloggers and their dedication to this challenge and I'm so thankful to them for coming back to my posts and reading. commenting and sharing them.
As usual, A to Z has been an immense learning experience and it taught me so much about myself and gave me the strength to move on when I had none. It is amazing how much we humans can achieve if we put our heart and soul into something. This year's challenge taught me that limitations are only in the mind and this leads to fear later. Once we break all the limits and boundaries within us, we can achieve at least one extra thing every day.
