Over the past week, The Project has sort of hit a low for me. Quite a few people, all within the span of several days, rejected me. Several of the responses were pleasant. A couple of the emails were quite rude. One that I received earlier in the week was so rude, I nearly cried. I’ve been doing really well with the Project. It’s been amazing, receiving all the answers, sorting through them and finding out who has picked which book(s) (then proceeding to flail all over the place). While 90% to 95% of the responses are outstanding, I would by lying if I didn’t admit there have been quite a few disappointments. Of course, there are disappointments – it’s to be expected. However, the good always outweighs the bad for this project.
However, all of that being said, I have done VERY well for something that I thought would NEVER take off. I never thought it would get attention from half the people that it did. Answers have ranged from Oscar winners to Olympians, from heads of state to best selling authors. The main reason I did this project was not to gain any profit or to become well known. It was simply, just simply, because I wanted to (and still do) ensure that literacy remains in the lives of the twins that I started this project with/for. It astounded me (and still does) the number of people who have responded and wanted to share their love of literacy with the kids. I never thought I’d hear from people from Downton Abbey, Sherlock or Murdoch Mysteries. I never thought for a minute I’d actually get somewhere. The thing is – I have. That is all that counts.
It’s quickly coming to the first birthday/anniversary/bookiversary of this project. Maybe I’ll spend the day reading kid’s books. I don’t know how I’ll remember this occasion. All I know is that it’s given me the confidence that I needed. It’s given me confidence in not only my life, but in my career as a nanny. The good outshines those nasty rejections. It’s all good.