Blogging has been difficult for me. I’ve never had a particularly easy time with writing and it’s not that I don’t have any contributions to make; ultimately what I end up writing is usually quite nice. But the process is grueling and I’d rather avoid it as long as possible. I’ll get an idea in my brain that appears perfect to recount, but when trying to flesh it out on paper, I struggle endlessly.
It recently occurred to me that I spend too much time trying to write for an audience who I perceive as having expectations that I’m consciously trying to fulfill. No wonder I freeze in my tracks! I don’t want to offend anyone so i try Safe Writing, which is never satisfying (to write or to read). I think this is incredibly common: people don’t present their authentic selves because they don’t want to be criticized. So they put forth someone they think everyone wants them to be. But in order to not offend people or to not be criticized, they must be vanilla. Safe. Boring. Agreeable. When you think about it, if you’re trying to connect with people, why would you want them to connect with the you that isn’t really you? Why would you want to be forgettable? Why would you want to be beige?
So I’m making a conscious shift to add ME to everything I write. I’m not going to be as concerned about offending people, and I don’t really care about being criticized because I’m sure people do it behind my back all day every day. So what am I scared of? Consider this my awakening. To bring ME into my messaging. From now on, when you read something I wrote, you’ll hear my voice and it’ll feel like you’re talking to me. Hopefully things will flow from my brain to my fingertips more easily, without having to stop and filter each word and punctuation mark to make sure it will please the vanilla masses.
So yes, I’m slipping into something more comfortable. ahhhhh, that feels better. Like a soft pair of elastic-waisted comfy pants.
