Farewell Inkhaven
Goodbye Winner's Lounge
Today marks day 30, the final day of Inkhaven. As I write this post, I have already left the campus grounds. While there is much I’m looking forward to as I rotate back into the real world, I cannot help but feel a subtle tinge of sadness too. My home of one month is my home no longer. How should I describe the event? Exhausting. But beyond that, it was fun and unique. If you’re interested in applying, I highly encourage you to do so.
To be honest, when I arrived at the Lighthaven campus on the first day, I was suddenly unsure about my decision. Writing one post a day for a full month without any days off didn’t sound so bad when I first accepted my invite. However, reality began to dawn on me when I arrived. By nature, I am a free spirit and keeping up with such an intense routine put me out of my comfort zone. Over the coming weeks, my worst fears would be realized. Writing one post a day about history (most days) was daunting. I have no idea how many hours I spent shut away in my room, poring over research and banging my head against a wall every time I learned a story or fact I wished to include in a post turned out to be nonsense. Left to my own willpower, I can’t say if I would succeed at a challenge like this. Thankfully, Inkhaven didn’t give me a choice. The imminent threat of ejection from the program (and of losing my accommodations) was a strong enough motivator to keep me going. Would it have been enough if this program had lasted another month? I’m not sure. Just the idea is enough to make me feel tired. Maybe I would have failed out and gone home. But one month? One month I could manage, despite my own doubts.
I intend to continue publishing history posts even though Inkhaven is over, though I expect my pace to slow.
I will miss speaking with all the cool and interesting people I met during Inkhaven, though hopefully I’ll keep in touch with many of them. Maybe I’ll even miss hearing the proper nouns “Costco” and “Bavitz”, but we’ll have to see. But what I shall miss the most is the Winner’s Lounge. For those unaware, the Winner’s Lounge was a special room within Lighthaven, exclusively reserved for residents who had completed their daily post. I cannot speak highly enough of this wonderland, stocked with alcohol, ginger beer, and ice cream. Each night, after I had exhausted myself sprinting through the research needed to write my post, the Winner’s Lounge provided a relaxing place to decompress and socialize with the other residents.
One regret I have is not being able to read the writings of more residents. I intend to right this wrong at my leisure in the coming weeks. While I doubt I will be able to finish all 1,500 posts published by this Inkhaven cohort, I’ll try to knock down at least a few hundred. And in particular, if any residents have written history posts that they think I should take a look at, please feel free to reach out and message me!
It’s been a pleasure meeting you all, and I hope to see you again. Goodbye everyone!