The Kaleidoscope Project January Challenge: Roundup
The Tipping Point
So back in early January, when we were all fresh from yearly recaps and resolutions, I decided that somehow it was a good idea to not only challenge myself to a writing challenge, but to challenge everyone else as well. Because I did not want to bear all of the responsibility alone, I convinced
to join me. Always one for a challenge, no sooner than I suggested it, Moon was in. Then the slightly larger challenge of getting other creators to participate began.I won’t lie, there was part of me that thought we might end up standing on an empty stage. After all, nobody gets as excited about an idea as you do, only you can see it’s full potential. The IKEA effect in action? (Where you value something more because you had a hand in building it.)
Luckily I was pleasantly surprised. That old Kevin Costner film wasn’t wrong… If you build it, they will come.
If you haven’t read the launch post and have no idea what I’m talking about you can check it out here:
Next time I come up with a challenge idea, please remind me to pick a name that I can spell, I can’t tell you how many times that the word Kaleidoscope has ended up with a red wavy line underneath it. “I before E, except after C” is a lie!
It's weird isn't it how we seize rules learned in childhood only to find they were a feint all along. Perhaps I need more caffeine?
How to best read this post
I feel that it’s hard to know how to read these posts sometimes, so here are the two ways I read “roundup type posts”.
On a computer, if you click a link it should open the linked post in a new window, I read and interact with that post, like share, restack, subscribe etc. before closing it to come back here.
On mobile, in a browser it might be similar to above, but if you use the app, clicking a link will take you to the article where you can interact, hitting the back button or using the back gesture will bring you back here.
Without further waffling from me, here we go…
Multiple Challengers, Multiple Perspectives?
As I complete this roundup we had a total of 26 entries into the challenge from 20 writers, it’s possible that there were more, but this is how many people tagged myself and Moon. It was exactly what we had hoped for.
The idea of a Kaleidoscope, where the light reflects off of the glass inside projecting patterns, changed by the simplest movement or angle, so everyone who looks in sees something different, is so appropriate.
Or as
put it in her post from last year:A slight turn of the kaleidoscope changes the entire colorful design.
A slight turn in our perspective, like the reflective surfaces of the mirrors, can enable a fresh new view of our experiences.
It’s exactly what we got: New perspectives and fresh views. The entries started coming in the day the challenge was posted.
was the first to tag us in a post and her poem took the prompt in a direction that I hadn’t thought of. She also shares a glimpse of her 17 year old self at the start which shows that she saw exactly what I saw in the challenge, only from her own unique perspective.Notes on the Precipice
We also had entries via notes, because some people’s publications are about specific niches and this challenge might not fit within the boundaries of those niches.
Starting off on Day 1 and Day 2 with Moon.
It is only just occurring to me that I don’t really know how to write a roundup post. I feel like I’m just posting links here but it’s difficult to say much more without spoiling what the post is about. You learn by doing right?
Also when posting lots of links to other posts the length limit gets hit pretty quickly, that means if you’re reading in your email client, like Gmail, rather than on web or app, you might see a “View Entire Message” link, simply click it to keep reading. You don’t want to miss the rest of the posts, including mine and Moon’s!
Cultural Commentary: Exploring Modern and Literal Tipping Points
’ entry poses a question about vegans and vaccines.
A Literal Interpretation
I feel as a Brit and with
an Irishman, that I need to preface his entry with the fact that what we call “The Tip”, others may call “The Dump”, “The Refuse Centre” or similar. Just take this with you as you read Michael’s post.
Whilst we are on the subject of the Tip a beautiful coincidence occurred as one of the writers I subscribe to
published his post called “The Tipping Point”, without having been aware of our challenge. That is until I made him aware, he was happy for his post to be considered an entry, even if an accidental one.
Having been directly inspired by Andy’s post about the literal tipping point, having recently visited myself. I got greedy and wrote what would be my third entry, but you will see my posts out of order, because I felt the need to group alike subject matter together.
The Great Tip Adventure
The tip. Or, as the council would like us to call it: the "Recycling Centre", because slapping a posh name on a pile of rubbish changes everything doesn’t it? Let’s not kid ourselves; it’s the tip, the dump, the place where broken dreams and rotting fence posts go to die. But for me? It’s bloody brilliant.
When Life Tips Over: Personal Stories of Transformation
Then in quick succession we had some highly personal Tipping Point moments, ones where vulnerability is on show for all to see, I’m grateful that people are happy to share their lows and not just their highs for the rest of us to see. They are relatable and authentic.
“danced” her way into the challenge with only their second post on Substack. Welcome! of The Muse Beguiled, well, she beguiled us with her entry:’s trip down memory lane to school during the pandemic. started with a poem and mentioned both interpretive dance and the popular British gameshow, both of which I had hoped someone would mention, if only in passing 🤣’s very personal tipping point. I think would describe his entry as “Semi-Fiction”.
Motivation
Moon’s longform entries to the challenge were on point for her publication
in that they could just as well have been published with no reference to the challenge at all. Even out of the context of the challenge they stands up as motivational, instructional posts that inspire action, just like all of her others.
Then my own entry on breaking out of your comfort zone.
Beyond the Threshold of Action
I love a long hot bath, it's probably my favourite way to relax. But they don't stay hot forever and after a while you end up sat in a lukewarm soup of your own filth, sweat and skin cells. Not cold enough to get out, not hot enough to enjoy, just sitting there, with fingers and toes slowly turning into prunes, wondering what you’re doing with your exis…
Poetry
We had a selection of poems starting off with
’s poem with an image that is like a Rorschach test to my eyes, I see something different every time!
And my own compendium of poems:
On the Brink of Change
Myself and Moon Arica have hosted a collaboration this month, The Kaleidacope Challenge, with the aim being to inspire writers and creators to come together to tackle a common topic to see the breath of results that come from the same theme.
The Accidental Entry?
I’m not sure if
knows he entered the challenge, but he did. I used one of his images in my “Threshold of Action” post as it fit so well. Then I saw this note and this fits too!And that’s your lot, unless you have an entry that you have written and didn’t tag either myself or Moon or I mistakenly missed someone out, for which I can only apologise, please let me know and I will rectify at the earliest opportunity.
I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who submitted an entry and to everyone who liked, shared and restacked anything to do with the challenge. Please show all of the participants some love if you enjoyed their writing.
All that remains to be said from me is that I hope you will join us for February’s iteration which, thankfully, will be hosted by Moon, so I can put my feet up and let her deal with the admin side of things. Thanks Moon!
Speaking of which, here are Moon’s closing remarks to round us out.
When Mark and I came up with this idea of a writing challenge, we had no idea what to expect or what form the entries would come in. Tbh I was blown away by the great works written by everybody. There were even some last minute entries and I admit I haven't had time to read them yet.
Mark did a great job rounding up the entries, making it easy for all of us to check out the various stories and poems. Since we're on the topic of The Tipping Point, let's continue to push closer by giving likes 💗 and comments on one another's posts / notes, and tip the scales in our favour.
Lastly, I want to thank Mark for this collaboration, I'm so grateful to be working on this meaningful project with such a creative and sincere friend. In our next challenge, we would love to see more daring entries, and we look forward to seeing song and dance performance, poetry recital, even mimes 😆. Keep a lookout for it tomorrow! -
If after all of this you are inspired, join February’s challenge today!
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Great idea for January! ✨
Really engaging challenge. 💛💛
I loved reading most of the entries. And will be reading the rest soon.
Thank you Mark for organising all the entries. Now I know where to find all.