Santa Squid from Squid Art Too by Tagsforkids

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

I’m finishing this year feeling I’ve accomplished some things that I really wanted to do. There have been some disappointments and sad times too – just like many years, in fact.

At the beginning of the year, I was making very few new lenses on Squidoo. I’d become a Giant in October 2008 by making 50+ lenses. After that I just lost inspiration for writing. I’d start a new lens, think about it, then delete it because I couldn’t think of more to write or I was bored by the subject. Worse still, I sometimes finished a lens, read it the next day, decided it was rubbish and so deleted it. Although I made a few lenses, they were a struggle.

Early 2009 two things pulled me out of this Slough of Despond. I joined Senior Squids and started to take part in their weekly lens Challenge. The second was I received an invitation from Michelle (a_willow) to join the Wiwon Team to become a Giant 100 Clubber. That was in April and the deadline to have 100+ lenses was June 30th 2009.

Joining in the Senior Squids weekly lens Challenge helped me start lens building again. Only having a week to make a lens concentrated my mind – I didn’t have time to dither and decide I didn’t like what I was doing. I made lenses on so many different subjects, it was this that started me off doing gardening lenses like I Love Lilies, Moonflower – Night Blooming Plants and Best of Garden Flowers on Twitter.

Salute to Giants from Squid Art Too by Tagsforkids

Not only did these count towards my 100+ lens target, they also started me writing again. I made the Giant 100 Club having met the required number of quality lenses by June 30th.

Then Michelle asked me to be a tutor on Wiwon for people wanting to make Giant or the 100 Club. She would decide she wanted a lens on some aspect of writing for Squidoo and that I was the one to write it. Sometimes I only had a couple of days before she wanted it. Funnily enough, it really helped me too.

Now I’m a Squid Angel and I love doing this. It gives me the opportunity to help new Squids particularly. Sometimes I see newcomers with great potential and all they need is a little guidance on the best way to use Squidoo. It’s also lovely when I get an email or message on my Angel’s lens telling me I’ve made somebody’s day by blessing their lens.

That’s the really great thing about Squidoo – for many of us, it’s all about community and giving back as well as taking.

Both pictures came from Squid Art Too by Tagsforkids.