You Little Widget You

It was bugging me for a long time–setting up a widget for Twitter on this blog. If you haven’t guessed  already, I’m so techno-challenged I don’t even know if techno-challenged is the correct term for what afflicts me. But I visit a lot of other blogs, and I figured if other writers could set one up, so could I.

The name widget was so cute, with an unknown specific origin, given to embedded code functions in web development. (I had to look that up, of course.) And I’d finally started using my Twitter account established months ago: @CynthiaTToney. Like my first puppy or chubby-cheeked baby, one of those Twitter widgets had to be mine.

Okay, it took an hour or more. Repeated reading and interpretation of instructions containing other terms with which I was unfamiliar, followed by trial and error–but I did it. Happy dance (see image above).

This tiny accomplishment got me thinking about how we sometimes forget to enjoy the successful small steps we take. Parents ask kids, and writers ask themselves and one another, about accomplishing their goals. Did you finish your homework? When will your book be published?

But not everyone views or attacks their projects in big chunks. Some of us break them down into manageable pieces. What’s wrong with asking a kid to show you one math problem he solved tonight? Or sharing with someone a new chapter you added to your manuscript this week?

At dinner, I plan to brag about my widget.