My Old Poetry and #ROW80

Do you go back through things you wrote a long time ago? I picked up a journal I kept in college (more than 20 years ago) and read through the poems I had scribbled within its pages. Like many young adults, I was conflicted. I was intense. I was super-deep (I thought).
Here is a sampling:
Silent Soliloquy
We’re living our lives like a line of calligraphy
With loops and twists and angles that need not be
I want the raw essence to scrawl on my page
As the pen searches the language and the paper becomes my stage
I think I’d write that notion a bit differently now. More light-hearted. Happier.
But it was nice to realize that while my answer to the Have You Always Been a Writer? is not an absolute yes, there was a spark even then of wanting to find the right words and arrange them on a page to communicate a message. I like the phrase “raw essence,” though maybe my essence would be battered and deep-fried nowadays. After all, life is short; you might as well enjoy as much of it as you can.
Now on to the raw essence of my ROW80 progress:

• Finish editing Grace & Fire mystery novel and send to reader. Check. Finished on January 19.
• Write 2,500 1,500 words per week on young adult novel, Sharing Hunter.  Having done great last week (3,375 words), I thought perhaps I should increase my word count expectation. Juliana Haygert, however, suggested that I “wait a couple more weeks and see if you keep crossing the 2000 words mark.” I agreed. Since then, I have written 764 words. Monday and Tuesday were not good health days.
• Blog twice a week on Amaze-ing Words Wednesday and Deep-Fried Friday, and check-in with ROW80 updates twice a week. Check. Posted Swimsuit Cover and ROW80 on Sunday and Getting in Last Words today.
• Comment on at least 10 15 blogs per week (not counting ROW80 update comments). Check. Commented on 16 blogs so far this week.
• Read one writing craft book. Check. Finished On Writing by Stephen King. For those of you asking what I thought of On Writing, I didn’t get as much out of it as others have. There were some gems in there, but quite a bit of the book covered King himself and his writing. I’m not a big King fan, though.
• Read five eight fiction books. 6 down. Now reading Family Magic by Patti Larsen.
• Exercise three times per week.
• Read through Writer’s Digest magazine issue. I’ve read a couple of articles, but have a way to go.

Wish the best to my fabulous fellow ROW80 writers HERE.
What gems have you discovered when you’ve gone back through old writings? How is your ROW80 going?