When I began writing, I had a lot to say. There was so much stored in that little brain of mine that I felt the need to let it ooze out onto paper. It was like there were words and stories that were held in my head for so long that once I wrote them down, my mind was set free. I fell in love with my desire to share what was important to my heart. Now that writing has been a regular part of my life for a year or so, I have learned a lot. I have learned about grammar and spelling of course, but something that was revealed to me even more so was what other people wanted to read. I learned that what others wanted to scroll through did not always line up with what I wanted to say.
Somewhere down the road, the words stop spouting onto the page like they used to. It was not that I did not have anything else to say, but that a lot of fears would enter my mind. For instance thoughts like, "is this relevant enough?" or, "will someone think this is funny?" or, "would this be worthy of a Facebook share?" began to creep up more and more. I caught myself struggling to put words into a sentence because I was worried that what I would say would not be good enough.
If you are thinking, "what on Earth does this girls writer's block have to do with my life?" just wait a second because there is a method to this madness.
The truth is, we are all guilty of doing the whole impressing act somewhere in our lives. Whether it be on social media or in person, we put up what we want others to see. We compare ourselves to one another and aim to achieve what the person next to us has. All the time, we ask ourselves, "does he/she like me?" or "am I good enough?" The answer is he/she does not have to like you and you do not have to aim to be good enough because you already are. Your mark of success should not be determined by the response others have to your work.
The more we aim to impress and compare ourselves to others, the more we are inclined to follow trends rather than pave our own roads. If you feel inclined to share something, share it. Disregard the "what will they think of me?" and start following your passions.
So if you are wondering why I decided to write this article that practically exposes thoughts that would typically be expressed in a diary, it is because we need to be raw and real with one another in order to ever hear the words, "me too." We are all fighting to survive in this world and impressing one another is something we no longer need to dwell on.
