I'm going to start this blog, by talking about my other blog, that has nothing to do with this blog. Well, in terms of content that is. The part that is relevant is the result. The thoughts, the feelings, and the general happiness that came from starting something of my own.
A few months ago, I started a food blog. It took a good few weeks of working up the courage to do this, which may (or may not) seem silly. It felt like such a big step. A daunting task that I couldn't possibly succeed at, that no one could possibly care about, or worse yet that might be a source of ridicule. The blog would be this "thing" that was out there, that was all me. If anything wasn't quite right on the blog, it would be my fault. If I wrote something that didn't make any sense, it would be obvious it was my decision, that it was my choice to do it. What's more, what would happen if I took the leap and started this blog, but then after making a few posts, I didn't have anything more to write about?
But after all, it's just a blog. There are millions of blogs out there, written by millions of different people, about a million different things. And so I started my very own, blog. At first I just kept it to myself, as I slowly figured out the layout and template, how to create the content, add gadgets, and lay out the images.
Tentatively, I shared it with a few close family members and friends. I kept building the content, and eventually added in better search engine optimization so that other people could find my articles, if they so wished. I revised the title and the layout a bit, now that I had a clearer vision of what it was exactly I wanted to do, and what else was out there. My posts became more defined and more appealing.
The purpose in the first place was to give me a place and opportunity to write, which it did, and every day I became more excited about possibilities for new posts and photography. I set aside time every few days to cook items for new content and to write the posts. I started a list of future post ideas, and the number of posts "to do" soon outnumbered the ones that I had already completed.
So yes, writing a blog gave me everything that I hoped it would. But I realized the other day, it gave me something I hadn't planned on as well. It gave me something that was all, entirely, completely, mine. I could write about what I thought was interesting, in a style and manner that I thought was compelling, and make it look like how I envisioned it in my head.
Funnily enough, what turned out to be most enjoyable about the blog, is the exact thing that scared me off from doing it for so long. I was so worried about the responsibility and statement that I would be making, that I didn't think about the benefits of creating something for myself. To brainstorm, create, and share all on your own, is a completely freeing and empowering process.
I think we lose more and more opportunities to do things like this as we get older. You might think that we have more freedom and control as we grow up and get older, and in some ways we do. But in a lot of ways, we actually become more confined and rigid.
In our standard, day to day life, how much do we do that is exactly what and how we want to do it? Certainly not at a typical job. No matter what career path you follow, if you are in a company or organization, chances are you report to someone. Or various people. Supervisors, group heads, clients. And you probably report to the results as well. Sales, loyalty, impressions. Every time an idea or a task is born, it goes through various steps, people, reviews, modifications. So many hands may touch it, that it may not even resemble the original thought or plan by the time it is complete.
I'm not saying that you can't have pride or satisfaction from work like this - you most certainly can. When you work with different people and ideas, you always face a number of challenges and obstacles. It takes a range of skills and strengths to work through all of those things, incorporate what is needed, and to come out the other end, not only breathing, but still speaking to everyone you had to interact with! It's tough, but it's often worth it.
But what I realized, is that there is another part of your psyche that needs to be fulfilled as well. It's a more creative, more independent part. It may be a small part or a big part of you, and as in my case, it may be challenging to pull it out into the open. However, if you are brave enough to engage with this part of you, it can reap a whole new type of reward.
I found that I felt more confident, because I had created this thing, this blog. My brain felt just a little bit stronger, because I had used it in a different way than I was accustomed to. Instead of trying to figure out how to follow direction, to collaborate and listen and succeed in predefined ways, I was trying to figure out how to define my own success, to create what I thought was original and motivating, to refine and revise my own thoughts and work until it was the best that I thought it could be, and then leaving it there to be displayed for the world to see.
It seems that we let opportunities like this pass us by. We may not think it is important enough. We may not understand the benefits. Or it may just not occur to us at all. But remember how good it felt when you were a child, and you created a fantasy land to play in for a whole afternoon? You and a playmate made up whatever you wanted (a sea of dangerous burning lava under the hammock perhaps?) and you lived in that world wholeheartedly until you were done. It's like that. It's giving yourself the freedom to think and to play.
It doesn't have to be a blog. It could be anything at all. But it has to be yours. It has to be born by you, and nurtured by you, and completed by you.
