I’ve talked to a lot of people since this writing thing began that have told me they would be interested in writing themselves, but they (insert obstacle here). Whether its time constraint, lack of confidence in their writing skills, or what have you…it sees many people would like to write, but for some reason convince themselves not to.
Personally, this saddens me. People have so many great ideas and dreams once you get to know them, and it’d be great to see more people share them – through writing, video, whatever. You never know when you’ve come up with the next game-changing idea unless you have the courage to get it out there.
Unfortunately, in many cases it seems like confidence is the main barrier that most struggle with. I hear so many people say that they don’t think others will care about their thoughts or ideas. Well you know what I say to that? So what?! I’m fully aware that 99% of the stuff I write in this blog is probably laughed or scoffed at, but that doesn’t stop me from writing it. Because most people I know, even though they may disagree with certain views or beliefs, still like me for who I am. If a person shuns you based on an ideology you have that offends them, then you don’t want to be around them anyway. We should never have to compromise our values or beliefs to fit in or get along with someone else – we are who we are.
Back to my main point. I think more people should write, YouTube, or use whatever medium they’re most comfortable with to share their thoughts. Now I know that some people aren’t comfortable with sharing things, which is obviously totally fine. Some people prefer to keep their feelings reserved, and if that’s what makes them happy then there’s not a thing wrong with it. But for those that DO have thoughts and ideas that they think would be interesting, you should start a blog or something. You’d be surprised at how much you can learn about yourself just by writing. Heck, don’t even make it public if you don’t want. Just start a journal. Anything will do. But seriously, you really do learn a lot once you start expressing your thoughts on (digital) paper.
I feel like writing in a journal is somewhat of a lost art. Way back when, almost everyone did it. These days, people see me write in mine and they’re like “what the heck is that thing, a diary?” Its not a diary dammit! Its a journal! Anyway, I mean look at how many war journals there are out there, for example. It seems like keeping a journal used to be the status quo. Now, in the age of Facebook, we use social media to record our nights out and lives in general. While I’m not necessarily opposed to social media, I still keep a journal for my really important thoughts. If you’re reading this, I would recommend you start one if you haven’t already. It can actually be a really interesting sensation to go back and read entries from the past. It’s like you get to know yourself in the third person. And again, it really helps you learn about yourself.
Anyway, I guess my point is that writing (or any creative form of expression) can be very therapeutic. I can testify to this, because if it weren’t for writing, Mom’s death would have been SO much harder. Writing gave me a sense of purpose and a goal to work towards so I could honor her memory. It was tremendously helpful during the grieving process, and still is (especially with the holidays). So if you find yourself tossing and turning at night, plagued with incessant thoughts of this or that…start writing!
It helps, I promise.
How the World Should Work 