Reflections #AtoZChallenge 2016

It is time to look back at this year’s April A to Z Challenge.

I almost skipped writing this post, but didn’t want to break the tradition, even though I don’t have much to say.

This year, I wasn’t as involved as I hoped to be.

2013, the first year was good and I wrote on the fly traveling through most of April.

2014 was interesting, too. I went without a theme.

2015 was different in many ways. I actually wrote around a theme “letters to my son”

Then came 2016 – I saw the sense behind picking a theme. Easy enough, or so I thought and chose to write about Mindful living. What I didn’t realize was how time-consuming it would be to put the posts together.

I planned posts yet got caught up with life’s priorities – travel, births, deaths, health fluctuations, worry, slow to non-existent internet, work, a broken laptop and all those other things that make living interesting.

Even though I knew I would be busy through April, I was crazy enough to imagine I could manage the A to Z Challenge with 4 blogs.  I could only do it with 3 – and my health blog got knocked off the list for not posting for a week, which is the elimination rule. I did not stress over it as I focused on what I had to do.

I was on schedule with Life Hacks for Happiness and Life Hacks for Diabetes – I even had the posts ready and scheduled – gasp

It felt good to read some posts from the AtoZChallenge Reflections link up – many bloggers reported a spike in traffic, comments and connections. Do check out the linkup – even if you didn’t do the AtoZ Challenge, you might enjoy them and feel inspired.

I am too lazy to check blog stats unless I absolutely have to. But I was curious this time, and amused to discover that:

• I did not have a spike in traffic– on the contrary, April was a dull month –with fewer visitors  compared to other months.
• Comments were sporadic.
• For my part, I tried to reciprocate, visiting those who commented here .
• There was no increase in subscribers – on the contrary, I had a steady stream of unsubscribes.

However, none of this worries me because I did not start with any expectations. And I am aware that unless one gets into a frenzy of posting, visiting, commenting, reciprocating – nothing happens.

So what did I enjoy about the A to Z Challenge this year?

• The writing – that is always wonderful.
• The theme I chose – mindful living – is my favorite topic and I attempted to preach what I practice.
• I have loads of post drafts. Yay me!
• April was more than the A to Z Challenge for me – I had a lot going on offline and enjoyed it all thoroughly.
• The few comments I received – each one is precious and I hold it close to my heart.
• I received emails from non-bloggers who read my posts and I feel privileged to have touched lives through my posts.
• I read a lot of blogs and it is always amazing to see the variety of themes.

Very special thanks to those who were kind enough to read my blog and share my posts on social media.

At the end of the day, I’d answer the question “Were you happy?” with a resounding “yes!”

So that’s all that really matters.

Will I participate in the A to Z again? Sure.

Will I do the A to Z with four blogs? Probably not, but who knows. One can never tell with me – April 2017 is too far off to make that decision.

Did you participate in the A to Z Challenge this year?

Was it your first year?

Did you enjoy it?

What was your experience? Do share in the comments!