I discovered this the moment I sat down to write my first article for Odyssey. I've always loved writing; bringing thoughts and ideas onto paper is cathartic for me, but I was reminded of why I stopped writing in the first place. When I began what I knew would be my first published article, my mind was completely empty. The blankness on the screen of my laptop was taunting me, and soon the silence I heard in my head was being replaced by negative thoughts. "Who wants to read what I have to say anyway? I don't even have anything for them to read about, let alone care about! I should just forget about it..."
After days of agonizing brainstorming, desperately grappling for something to say, I came to the conclusion that this was no way to write. I made conscious efforts to open myself up to inspiration, rather than obsessively searching for it. One morning, I was rewarded for my efforts. Like a bolt of lightning, inspiration struck. My first article was titled "What Happened to Natural", and the inspiration for the article was a random ad I happened to see on my Tumblr feed. The ad was advertising a social media filter that would completely erase your face to look "flawless," and I knew then and there I had my article.
As my article took shape, I began to see and hear my own voice through the words and I knew I didn't care about what other people thought. I was being honest with myself and any readers I might have conjured up. It was so very rewarding in the end. Contributing anything to the world is a scary thing, but the feeling you have after is like none other.
The little voice inside my head was blocking my creative juices and I couldn't push past the mental block until I learned to throw caution to the wind and embrace my inner voice. I realized that it wasn't being creative that was so difficult, it was getting over the fear of people seeing my work. For me, writing is a direct line to what's on my mind and often, it can give glimpses into my soul. I was afraid that people on the Internet would judge not only my writing, but me as a person. Once my fear was staring me in the face, it didn't look so scary anymore. I felt liberated once I finally pushed past the fear of judgment and my love of writing came back in full force because of it.
