Hi, Steemians at Steemit School Poetry!

First of all, it's been a pleasure to complete the Steemit School Poetry 100 Days of Poetry Challenge. I have never gone through an experience like this, and I must say it's been intellectually extraordinary and spiritually nurturing.

You can check @d-pend's "Reflections on the 100 Days of Poetry Project #1: Challenge Design here.

First time ever I heard of #SteemitSchool or @d-pend when I signed up for the challenge. My sisters and a couple of friends I tried to convince to join in told me I was crazy and wished me good luck. A whole new experience was about to start, and an experiment for sure; I was excited and ready, and so wrote my first poem.

This challenge was an opportunity for me to work on my spontaneity; having to post a poem a day was perfect. Getting to write again was therapeutic (it is), plus there were new relations to come (perhaps true friendship might flourish now and then), plus the money, plus the incentive of winning at least once (which I do enjoy; it’s a birth defect)—“As good as it gets,” I thought. And then, serendipity: I found myself contemplating nature and writing like I did when I was younger and had leisure time and the country was a merrier place where things like culture mattered; I thought I’d never do that again until I was old and so life would have spared me the physical and mental efforts (I work two jobs, 70 hours a week). I won already: I find posting and commenting easier now (my lack of time is still an issue, but that’s a different story), and I am happier (for I can write; some people read me and I read others, and it actually matters and I feel I’m gonna cry as I write this, really).

Personally, this challenge took me back to happier days (not too long ago), when I took language courses and attended writing and critique workshops just for fun at "Casa Ramos Sucre" (My Ramos Sucre mug in the pic, by the way, faithful companion in every poem I wrote, except when I was out of town). Steemit had started this for me, a better version of this life; the challenge was definite. But that is my individual truth. As for us all, the crew of poets here, I’d have to point out a couple of things:

• First: It’s a Steemit Fact: Many people get in for the money.

As for this challenge, we all know money alone is never enough to get you going in the creative business; the frustration that comes by not getting enough upvotes, for example, does not help you at all; it may make you depressed (I‘ve experienced that and gladly overcame it, I believe). You need motivation and acknowledgement so you can build up confidence and dare to try new things and have fun. In this sense, self-motivated people have more chances to complete a challenge like this, I think.

Therefore, do not think everybody who signed for this would make it through. Besides there are many other factors contributing to make people unwillingly withdraw from the challenge: time, personal situations, etc.

• Second: There are many variables (time, expectations, life issues, etc.) affecting our possibilities to complete the challenge. The more variables you can anticipate, the better the design? Supposedly yes, BUT there are gray areas.

In my experience, you just can’t adapt to so many people. They have to adapt to you. It’s not about being inflexible; it’s about discipline and respect. People should know better what they are getting into.

Besides, there’s no way to make everyone happy. And this may be a truism, yes, but the type one must be reminded of once too often.

My Only Recommendation

Whatever the design you may choose next (if there's a next time; I personally hope there is), make it comfortable to you and don't feel bad about it; this will allow you to keep up with the participations and deliver your updates complete and on time, so you can afford being as demanding as necessary and refuse, perhaps, proposals which may affect negatively the challenge.

I think you've been too demanding on yourself and were not able to cope with it at times—who would?—. The challenge was too huge a task for a single human being.

I hope this helps. I’m talking too much.
Thanks a lot, @d-pend, @geekorner, @steemitpoetry, and all people involved. I’m more aware and writing and plan to keep it that way.

Thanks for reading.

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Image designed by @wilins ♥