Contests: winning, losing and otherwise

Last year I entered and won the American Mother’s Inc. State poetry contest. It is a fabulous organization for women. I was honored to win and was invited to their luncheon, allowed to read my poem and grateful to meet many friendly and inspiring mothers.

I also entered a few other poetry contests last year, most with the announcement of winners in February – this month. I suppose it could be a saving grace that the contests do not send letters to all but one of the entrants declaring “You Lost.” Posting the picture, bio and poem of the winner on their website is enough heartbreak. (Don’t worry. I have a comforting reserve of Valentine chocolates.)

I received one peculiar notice announcing the winner, not me, but stating my poem was under consideration for publication and I’d be notified by such-and-such date. It looked suspiciously form letterish and having suffered so recently from several losses in a row, I didn’t feel encouraged by it. I guess I’m not in the mood to be strung along.

Speaking of mood, I was thinking how I could turn mine around. Months ago, in a weak moment, I allowed myself to think of what I might do with any ‘winnings’ (read: money) – I thought how fun it would be to share the wealth – you know, have a contest and offer a bona fide cash prize.
So today when sitting down to blog or post or whatever the verb is for what I’m doing, I thought, ‘so much for the blog contest’. The generous-fighter-let-nothing-stop-me girl who is always trying to get more attention said, (you can probably see this coming)- “Have the contest anyway!”

So here goes: Leave a comment. Tell me what you’ve won, lost or otherwise (it can be anything – writing contests, radio contests, 3rd grade spelling bee – I’m really flexible here) Feb 28th I’ll announce the winner of a $20 Amazon gift card. Become a follower for an extra entry. Thanks for reading & good luck.