It’s been a while since I last wrote for the Odyssey. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I sat down to write anything. My most recent article is from a month ago, and considering that it was written in advance, it really feels like a long time ago. Besides, this semester, my classes have been mainly focused on numbers and math compared to my past schedule of WTE and Proust. During this time of absence, I have grown to miss writing on a regular basis. I think a lot of my personal growth lies in these moments I spend indoors alone and in thought.

I spent a lot of time thinking about Odyssey during my short break, especially on what to write for my “comeback” piece. There were topics I started and didn’t finish from the past year and stories that I wanted to share but couldn’t share because they became too emotional. I had moments of finding closure and burning bridges that felt somewhat interesting and necessary to write about.

But even with all these ideas, I couldn’t decide how to start this second (?) chapter of my Odyssey experience. The biggest problem being that I had too much to say but not enough to write about. Of course, the time came Wednesday morning, where I could no longer brainstorm mindlessly. I did what I do best: talk about myself.

Before Odyssey changed its system, it used to have the number of views and shares next to each article. With the update, the only notice of audience comes in the weekly e-mails. I used to pay a lot of attention to those numbers, wishing they were higher. (I did notice my highest views came from carefree listicles.) I was pretty annoyed when I could no longer see the numbers.

However, I realized that I no longer write to be acknowledged. While that has been the case in the beginning, it has been some time since I sincerely cared about that. There is no one that I want to compete with by writing, and I don’t see the purpose in that anymore. To be honest, I don’t know who reads these pieces. I barely read five or six every month. But when I do, I am constantly touched by what I read.

I think Odyssey, amongst the many other platforms of online writing, has great potential in dialogue that it hasn’t lived up to yet. I want to reach out to some of the writers that I read and get to know them beyond digital methods. Sometimes these strangers find words to describe what I could not and other times I can’t help but crying because I, too, feel the pain. In my humble opinion, empathy is gained by beautiful words and phrases, above any other ways.

So, if any of my words mean anything or feel relatable, communicate with me. In whatever way that means to you. I don't think I have a reached a point of complete honesty; I have barely started being honest with my self. But as long as I continue to write (and read), I will be doing so to find sincerity within myself and those around me. For now, though, I’m happy to say I’m back and that I’ll be continuing to write, edit, and embrace the power of words.

Starting now, I want to end my personal pieces by recommending a Korean. As cliche as that might be, I really appreciate finding new songs/movies/books/tv shows from other online writers, and I think a lot of noteworthy Korean music needs more love.

Today I end with Kim Sung Kyu’s “41 Days.” Unfortunately, you can’t find this on Spotify, but Youtube has everything! He recently came out with a new album, which inspired my returning to his first album (my first physical album), which can be found on Spotify.