I've been writing since I was 12 years old. I still have many of the early scribbles and grammatical errors that I considered "stories". In reality, they showed my story of how I became a writer. I don't actually call myself a writer. Ever. I refer to my "writing brain" and my friends consider me their "writer friend", but if I ever say it on accident, I usually hesitate before quickly saying I'm a writer-I mean wanna-be-writer.
However, aren't we all writers? Before some of you raise your eyebrows up to the skies and turn to close down this page for it's nonsense, hear me out.
Every single day, each one of you wakes up, and if you're anything like me, go through the list of what you've got going on in your day. You might start with something as simple as making your coffee, pouring it into your favorite mug as you think of what outfit you're going to wear that day. You may have scribbled into your planner the times for all your appointments and errands you've got to run, when you'll find time to workout, when you'll do work/homework. Then you'll leave some things all the way at the bottom of your list, the things you'll star and hope you'll have time for like reading, blogging (ha, ha, intended for me), editing, laundry, etc. You have your days planned out. You know how it will go, and you haven't made room for error so there better not be any.
Until your coffee spills. And your favorite pair of jeans were still in the dirty laundry basket, which was on your *starred* list to do yesterday which you hadn't done. And then you're late for your first appointment, you're behind on your homework, you forget your workout clothes at home, and you're in too much of a bad mood that you just head to sleep instead of do anything else you have to do. And when you remember how once again your life got in the way of you pursuing any of your other passions/hobbies that have nothing to do with your school life or work life, you become even more upset and don't know what to start to fix.
I've been there. SO MANY TIMES. And I'm not a huge fan of the "new year, new me" thing, but this year, I just want to be ME. There are so many people out there, so many hobbies, so many careers, enough homework to keep you busy, so many OTHERS but not enough YOU's. This year, I want to be ME. That means for the past three days, I've made time to write (even if it's in my journal). I've made time to study and made (some) time for chores. I've made lots of time for reading and time for working out. It's so easy to get carried away and let life steer you, but aren't we the ones that are supposed to be holding the wheel?
So going back to how we are all writers. We are in control of the steering wheel that directs each of our lives. If your life was a 365 page book, what would each page have on it? Like any other story, there are boring pages with details about a character's life, some pages that make one wonder HOW THE CHARACTER HASN'T LOST HIS/HER MIND YET, and some that make one smile and wish that was our life. The character's story has twists and turns, days that didn't go the way they wanted it to, and days in which their dreams took a different turn. Maybe they had to work harder than they thought for something they wanted. And doesn't it inspire you SO MUCH when they do get what they want, when you get to that last page, close the book, and hold it tightly against your chest, taking in the bittersweet moment in which you realize you loved that book so much.
That can be your life. Every year, we write a 365 page story, but almost every time we've finished it, we toss it away and hope we don't remember any of it just because of a few bad pages. But we all had moments that were page turners, moments that made us cry either with sorrow or even joy. Let's change it this year though. Let's write 365 pages and preserve them, remember them, and love them-the good parts and the bad.
See? We're all writers. The difference is some of us like to keep our stories on our bookshelves, while others leave them behind to rot. You're the main character of your own story. Don't leave him/her buried in the dirt. :)
Happy New Year!!
However, aren't we all writers? Before some of you raise your eyebrows up to the skies and turn to close down this page for it's nonsense, hear me out.
Every single day, each one of you wakes up, and if you're anything like me, go through the list of what you've got going on in your day. You might start with something as simple as making your coffee, pouring it into your favorite mug as you think of what outfit you're going to wear that day. You may have scribbled into your planner the times for all your appointments and errands you've got to run, when you'll find time to workout, when you'll do work/homework. Then you'll leave some things all the way at the bottom of your list, the things you'll star and hope you'll have time for like reading, blogging (ha, ha, intended for me), editing, laundry, etc. You have your days planned out. You know how it will go, and you haven't made room for error so there better not be any.
Until your coffee spills. And your favorite pair of jeans were still in the dirty laundry basket, which was on your *starred* list to do yesterday which you hadn't done. And then you're late for your first appointment, you're behind on your homework, you forget your workout clothes at home, and you're in too much of a bad mood that you just head to sleep instead of do anything else you have to do. And when you remember how once again your life got in the way of you pursuing any of your other passions/hobbies that have nothing to do with your school life or work life, you become even more upset and don't know what to start to fix.
I've been there. SO MANY TIMES. And I'm not a huge fan of the "new year, new me" thing, but this year, I just want to be ME. There are so many people out there, so many hobbies, so many careers, enough homework to keep you busy, so many OTHERS but not enough YOU's. This year, I want to be ME. That means for the past three days, I've made time to write (even if it's in my journal). I've made time to study and made (some) time for chores. I've made lots of time for reading and time for working out. It's so easy to get carried away and let life steer you, but aren't we the ones that are supposed to be holding the wheel?
So going back to how we are all writers. We are in control of the steering wheel that directs each of our lives. If your life was a 365 page book, what would each page have on it? Like any other story, there are boring pages with details about a character's life, some pages that make one wonder HOW THE CHARACTER HASN'T LOST HIS/HER MIND YET, and some that make one smile and wish that was our life. The character's story has twists and turns, days that didn't go the way they wanted it to, and days in which their dreams took a different turn. Maybe they had to work harder than they thought for something they wanted. And doesn't it inspire you SO MUCH when they do get what they want, when you get to that last page, close the book, and hold it tightly against your chest, taking in the bittersweet moment in which you realize you loved that book so much.
That can be your life. Every year, we write a 365 page story, but almost every time we've finished it, we toss it away and hope we don't remember any of it just because of a few bad pages. But we all had moments that were page turners, moments that made us cry either with sorrow or even joy. Let's change it this year though. Let's write 365 pages and preserve them, remember them, and love them-the good parts and the bad.
See? We're all writers. The difference is some of us like to keep our stories on our bookshelves, while others leave them behind to rot. You're the main character of your own story. Don't leave him/her buried in the dirt. :)
Happy New Year!!
Comments
Post a Comment