Writing For You
This is #OHMthoughts for 9/19/20
We're about at that point in Fall when the trees smash the turbo color change button.
I'm certain there's a big fancy word for "turbo color change mode" but I think it's more fun to say. The only thing that turns brown faster is when the <insert rival team> season goes to shit.
Y'all come here for the mental health discussion but stay for the bad meteorological poop jokes. What can I say, my brain thinks this crap.
You know, I used to censor myself; in the past I wouldn't have written that admittedly awful joke but when you write enough, and subject others to it, you get to a point where you commit to writing for yourself. You write because you want to, because you have something to say, and when you do it, you feel better. Then when you make the decision to publish those words, you have to stay committed to yourself while taking into consideration that when people read your words, they may not read them in the same manner, the same tone or even the same context. And you have to understand that's ok.
Hell, I'll bet at least one person smiled at my dumb joke and maybe even thought it was funny.
My point is that for each of us that makes the leap into publishing our words, we've got to be good with what we write. That doesn't mean we don't make mistakes or can't learn from another person's point of view, but we write with conviction towards who we are. I know people that are reading this have words they want to offer the world but they have reservations. I totally get it and have absolutely felt the same exact way. All I can do is to start. If you know your writing has a place in the world but you're not sure where, just start. Begin with yourself, write about your topic like you're the reader. You know who you are, so write what you'd like. And then pick another topic and do the same thing. You see where I'm going with this. Your values are your guardrails, your knowledge and experience are your guide and your pursuit of challenging yourself is your force to get better. That's where the magic happens, when your drive to a be better writer pushes you to test the boundaries you've placed on yourself.
I want to make clear that when I talk about pushing ourselves and our boundaries, I'm not talking about going to dark places. I'm talking about cultivating our words to express ourselves in ways we haven't in the past, to push ourselves to create outside of our comfort zone. It doesn't happen overnight but it will happen if you want it to.
The reasons why we write, what we write about and what we want to get out of our writing is different for all of us. I can’t stress enough that you can’t compare your writing to anyone else. You can only push yourself to be a better writer otherwise you’re going to put yourself into a mental knot.
