Wicked Wednesday: Celebrating Small Things

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Edith/Maddie, with another post about celebrations. (And no, by small things I don’t mean children.)

Last week we talked about birthdays. What about celebrating small events and achievements? How do you treat yourself when you break through a plot block, finally sort your sock drawer, or get those bulbs planted before the ground freezes? Do you buy a new favorite pen or that scarf you’ve been wanting? Do you take the afternoon off to read the latest thriller or cozy with tea or a glass of hard cider? Wickeds, tell our readers about some small recent victory and how you celebrated.

Sherry: I’ve been doing Nanowrimo — the challenge to write 50,000 words this month. My reward for making my word count is to read for a bit.

Jessie: I love this question, Edith. To celebrate small wins, like a good day of writing or crossing something off my list that has been languishing, I like to listen to a podcast, take a few minutes to knit or by fixing a special beverage like an espresso tonic or a London Fog.

Barb: I was in a writers group for twenty years. We were great about celebrating small things–because the big wins are so few and far between for beginners. We’re all published authors now, but the road was a long one.

The certificate my writer’s group made for me when I finished the first draft of my first mystery novel. It was fourteen long years before The Death of an Ambitious Woman was published. That time gap used to embarrass me, until I got to know more writers and learned it isn’t all that unusual. Family, work, and one go around in 1998 when I got an agent and the book failed to sell were some of the reasons, but the biggest one was I was learning my craft. This is why we needed to celebrate the small milestones.

Julie: You know what? I’m TERRIBLE about celebrating small things and milestones. I wait until I’m done, and even then I’m terrible. As I’ve done so often, I’m going to learn from the Wickeds!

Liz: I’ve been trying to get better at it too, Julie. I’ve been doing small things if I make my goals, like watching an episode of a show or reading or even getting myself a special treat, like a coffee.

Edith: I’m not that good at it either, ladies! My favorite reward is curling up on the couch with a good book and a glass of wine.

Readers: How do you celebrate the small wins and joys?

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

28 Thoughts

  1. In my younger days I would treat myself to a cute pair of shoes, back when I could wear heels. Now It’s usually a latte or I’ll go try a new flavor of ice cream depending on the time of day. It’s Florida and I usually only wear sandals, drink iced lattes and always have ice cream in the freezer so it’s a treat to go out. I miss Kimball’s ice cream in Westford, MA and try to go when I go visit my family in MA.

  2. Like some of the Wickeds, I am horrible at celebrating the small wins and milestones.
    Just crossing off the item as “done” on my To Do list is satisfying, but I suppose I could do something else to reward myself. I already do things I like such as reading or going for a walk outside most days. And I usually enjoy what I cook/eat, too.

    Taking notes on what the Wickeds and readers do for some reward inspiration!

  3. Count me in as horrible at celebrating the small (and even the large) accomplishments. I turned in my next manuscript two weeks ago (it was actually due TODAY) and what did I do? Say YAY and do a little happy dance. That was it. Yeah, I really need to learn to do the celebration thing better.

    2. “Yay” and a happy dance (particularly the happy dance) qualify as a perfectly wonderful celebration. They put you, not the chore first. Reading these comments I see a real “Not an adequate celebration, so must not be a worthy accomplishment” theme.
      Seem to have my cynical old lady costume on today.

  4. Reading floats my boat—mixing fiction and non-fiction. That fuels my next day. Other little things, like brewing a cup of tea, not for energy but for flavor. And then there’s the emotional satisfaction of giving time to helping my better half with her writing and website. Most times, celebrating minor victories flows, but if neglected, it’s missed—the prompt to get it together!

  6. To me celebrating the little things is going off with hubby away from chores, cooking and anything else on the to do list. It can be just for the day driving to a new place with our cameras trying to capture a glorious view or a critter that’s been avoiding us. It can also be escaping to a motel a day’s drive away with just a few essentials packed meaning we aren’t headed to check in on relatives or even a well plotted out trip but rather on a we will take it as it comes trip for fun.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  7. Barb, I truly enjoyed The Death of An Ambitious Woman, so thank you for hanging in there and getting it published. My treat for myself is alway finding a quiet spot to read. Thank you each one Wickeds for being authors that write delightful treats for this reader!

  8. At the end of a productive day (both the day job and if I’ve made my word count), I get to read, read, read with nothing else to do.

    When I finish my page count for the month, I stop and get myself a treat from the kitchen.

    What I haven’t been celebrating enough lately are the bigger milestones, like book releases. I’m two charms behind on my bracelet. I need to fix that.

  9. I’ll celebrate small things by feeling really good and accomplished and smiling for the rest of the day.

    Obviously, I’m not too good about celebrating the big or the small things in life. I should fix that. And when I do, that will be another thing to celebrate!

  10. Of course, reading is always a treat. But I celebrate crossing off items on my TBD list by ringing the singing bowl at the end of day. Nice sound just before going to bed.

  11. Hi, I really don’t do anything special when I finally accomplish something I finally got around to doing, I just feel good about myself all day long that I finally did it. Just yesterday and got alot of clothes that I had hanging in the closet that I hadn’t worn for a year or so , I put it in a box and I will donate it. It just feels good to do something like that. Have a great rest of the week and stay safe.

  12. Sadly, I don’t. I just keep moving on and feeling like I need to do something else. I need to give myself permission to take those moments.

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