Why Am I Here
The short answer is, I’m here to practice.
Last year, I dove back into reading, and I was reminded of how powerful words can be. And in particular, how unique and impactful individual voices are. There were also a couple of points (mostly at work) where I got a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment in being able to put something in words that people resonated with or could more easily understand. I secretly (and not-so-secretly) relish the skills I think I’m good at, so that validation evolved into thinking about how I could develop my voice further. I’ve realized that the way to do that is not to wait until I’ve collected all these novel thoughts and experiences to then try to pull them together, but to just start writing now.
There are a lot of times I’ve attempted to start something (a few have been blogs or writing), and dreamed of it growing into fantastic things, only for it to putter out after a few attempts. I think for a long time I saw this as a flaw- that I couldn’t follow through, commit, or learn deeply about something. I’m hoping that here, I’m intentionally giving myself space for this to be whatever it is. Whether I keep this up for years or months, it will have served a purpose and contributed to my skills and growth, and that’s all it needs to be.
With writing in particular, I think in previous attempts, I often ended up imitating someone else’s voice instead of my own. Not just particular people I admired, but even just a version of myself I wished or thought I could be. Someone more wise, more eloquent, and frankly more put together than I am. I’m sure that’ll continue to some degree here, but if the whole point of this project is to find and refine my voice, I hope that I can shout into the void without trepidation and worry more about how it feels to shout than what it sounds like to others.
I don’t know exactly what kind of writing I’ll do here or what this will become. Maybe this will become a space for book reviews, commentary on current events, life updates, all of the above, or none of the above. But in any case, words don’t have power when they’re spoken, they have power when they are heard. So if you’re here, thank you.
