Why I Stopped Writing (And What It Cost Me)
It's 12:30 PM in Athens. You're walking the major college campus with no specific direction. You're very observant to the sounds of cars waiting for the traffic light to change and the footsteps amongst conversations of your peers throughout the courtyard. While you're taking it all in, you wouldn't second-guess writing down your thoughts, wonderings, or observations.
What I began to realize in a recent conversation with one of my best friends is that writing was an outlet for me. It was the one piece that couldn't necessarily be controlled. Writing was my outlet. It could be deeply personal, overly observant, or even slightly corny. I also realized that it mattered to me and I let busyness convince me that writing was not a priority. In this season of my life, I have shifted. I have shifted because I know that this next season, my next act, will require just a little bit more. However, I also know that I will need to be more grounded in myself in order to achieve exactly who I know I'm supposed to be.
Insert writing. Better yet, insert the avenue in which my thoughts outlive the internal voice. Writing for me is therapeutic. Writing has allowed me to gather where I am and better articulate how I feel, although there are times when I feel as if I don't have the correct words. Writing is what you make it and in this next season, I have made it my stance to bring writing and reading back to the forefront. I also realized I don't have many hobbies anymore. I don't want the spaces in which I exist to become my only identity. It's more so me protecting my future self from not being able to answer the question: "So tell me a little about yourself." I have realized that that question is more than what you bring to an organization, field, or industry. The question of telling someone about yourself is really an invitation to showing how different parts of your world intersect.
Funny enough, I found a couple of articles I wrote in college, vastly different in focus, but they were mine. As much as I did not see my personal site as a historical accounting of my life, I realize that there's somebody out there who might have a thought they just don't know if somebody else is thinking. They might have an idea they're sitting on and don't know if someone would be interested. They could be like me: they just need an outlet. So for the next 30 days, I'm writing every day, taking it back to the beginning of what I am at my core.
Of all the things that I may do or might be good at, I am going to take writing to the next level for me. I'm going to talk about my perspective on issues within the world. There might even be things that happen in entertainment that color the screen. But know that this writing is deeply personal and I hope that we all just find something that makes us feel a little bit whole again, and maybe it even serves as a true outlet.
One thing to note: dictation really does help! I used the talk to type as a way to get my thoughts out, edited it and voila! This isn’t supposed to be super buttoned up. If you see some typos, you can be kind with the edits.
