For the past 14 years or so, as I understand it, the great folks of twowritingteachers.org have hosted a writing challenge they call “Slice of Life.” Every March, teacher-writers (most of the participants are teachers or have been teachers) are encouraged to write and post a narrative about a “small” subject–a slice of life–every day. For the other 11 months of the year, it’s just on Tuesdays. I’m doing my best to maintain the writing habit, not missing a day over the last three months.
It’s Tuesday morning, and the cursor is still blinking.
Last week, I learned how to write the script for, shoot the video of, and edit the footage for a “virtual hike” on a local Land Trust property. That’s worth a slice, certainly. But it doesn’t really seem important today. My county has lost over 105,000 people to COVID-19 in the same three months I’ve been writing. The world has lost nearly 400,000. Well over six million people experienced the virus.
My wife has been putting in a wonderful garden, and I’ve done a little bit of the work (but not much). The evenings outside would make a wonderful slice. It’s hard to share that, though, when my country–our country–has allowed public health to be politicized. Wearing a cloth face covering as encouraged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDE) is apparently for liberals and wimps. Seeking to protect yourself and others is now a statement.
I’ve been building a bookshelf, and while doing so have relearned a technique for joining wood. That relearning is sort of a funny story, in a way, and I know I could write a humorous slice about it. But our country is reeling under righteous protest and unrighteous violence after the routinely horrific death of George Floyd, a man who suffocated under the knee of a police officer who gave an oath to protect and serve his community.
Last night, here in the state of Alabama, I experienced a unique kind of history being made as a monument to the Confederacy was removed from a park in Birmingham. I watched on my phone as the crane moved into position and the monument was dismantled. I’m not sure how I’d have written that slice. I’ve lived in Alabama for 20 years now, but I don’t have the experience to understand the feelings (both for and against) people have for that statue and many others like it; I respect the sincere views they hold, regardless of my own opinion.
I would have wanted to see what I could do with it, though, but any attempt to reflect on that event is overshadowed by yesterday’s words and events from this great nation’s capital. The Secretary of Defense used the term “battle space” to refer to the cities of The United States of America. “Battle Space.” The Insurrection Act is being encouraged by some who hold high positions in our federal government. Near the White House, law enforcement officers used tear gas, concussion grenades, and rubber bullets to remove lawfully-assembled protestors from the area around St. John’s Episcopal Church. They did so to allow the president of the United States to walk there for photos.
In so many ways, Rome is burning.
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Next week I’ll write again, and I’ll do my best to share something positive. For this week, though, this is all I’ve got.
Yet There is Method 
it is tragic and this is happening everywhere in some form or the other. The cold blooded murder of George Floyd brings home the evil that is happening .
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Lakshmi, this is a difficult time all over the world. I wish it was not so. Thank you for reading, and for your comments.
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Sharing the pain, your thinking through the chaos we are living, and the hope to “share something positive” the next time is good, I think. Sharing your process like you have today is appreciated. I’m sure your words echo what many of us are feeling. You are not alone. Thank you for your honesty.
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Thank you for reading, Marina, and for your comments. Next week will be better!
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This was a slice I could definitely relate to — it’s hard to celebrate or take join in the small mundane aspects of life, to slice about those, when so many bigger things are going on. You definitely put to words some of the same things I have been struggling with these past few weeks and I like how you organized that contrast (stuff that was going on in your home vs what was going on in the bigger world). Thanks for sharing this, it’s helped me process some of my own complicated feelings and put it into a better perspective.
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Erica, thanks for reading, and thank you for your comments. It’s been a hard time for so many people, so it’s hard to find joy in the small stuff. That said, I can’t let myself be dragged down to a place I don’t need to be. I’m glad this piece helped you process.
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It’s very difficult to write a slice of life–most things feel trite in the face of our reality. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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You’re right, Molly, but this week I’m going to try to be positive. There are still slices of good stuff out there!
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It WAS hard to write today. I had my idea ready but it was hard to shape … it felt like walking through deep water, with weights … like grief. Hard to form my own thoughts. At any rate, your post is a comfort, reassuring in this shared experience of terrible truths. As a compass always points North, let us point toward hope … the positive to come, yes.
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Fran, there is positive to come, I know there is. We are grieving as a nation just as each of us is grieving his or her own personal losses. Thank you for your comments.
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You still wrote a powerful post here, Tim. It was definitely a “slice of life” because you told of all the things you’ve been doing that could make interesting slices but didn’t because of your concern over what is happening in our country. It IS hard to write and be positive these days. But, as I experienced writing a thoughtful, serious post yesterday, today started on a much more upbeat note which gave me a sense of hope. This hope is what enabled me to write today. I’ll look forward to reading all your other posts as you write and share them on better days. Take care.
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Thanks, Carol, for your comments. I’ve had a positive encounter with a red-tailed hawk over the past two days, and I’m looking forward to sharing about it!
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I didn’t post until almost 10:00 ET because I could not find the words. It is hard to finally see how little the world has changed in my lifetime. I appreciate your words.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Rita. It is hard, indeed, to see how slow such a small amount of change has come, but I’m hopeful the last 10 day will be the catalyst for things speeding up.
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I hear you. I couldn’t write last week. I really had hoped to make it through the rest of the year without skipping a Tuesday. But I couldn’t write last week. I think your piece here is powerful–rooted in the ways that we continue to try to get through each day but always moving to the crises we are living through and need to be active in.
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Elisabeth, thank you for reading, and thank you for your comments (thank you also, for your efforts to share material elsewhere on social media). These times are so hard for me, but of course they’re so much harder for so many other people. I hope this is a time for change; I’m optimistic at least some good will come out of these nearly two weeks of upheaval.
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