writing

Writing has always been what I wanted, what I was good at. When I was younger, notebooks were the only thing I spent money on. I wrote story after story about whimsical girls who didn’t have bowl cuts or annoying little brothers like me, and thus led much fuller and more desirable lives. As I grew up, my creative pursuits took a back-seat to television dramas and the wonders of AIM, but writing was always something I loved. When I got to college, my choice of major was really no question. Being an English major, I was able to read and write for four years. However, very few people who love writing get the chance to do it for a living. 

I have to admit, since blogging hit the scene, I have been staunchly opposed to the concept.  Ask my family, friends, practically anyone. For an assignment senior year, I had to create a blog and I actually titled it “I hate blogs.” My main objections came from my memories of livejournal, where the inane thoughts of teenage girls were published for the masses. I felt that that sort of brain dump in such a public way was acceptable when you were 14 and had more emotional energy than healthy, but for it to become a popular avenue for emotionally controlled, or at least above the passive aggressive need for others to read a diary, people, seemed to me the sign of the degradation of humanity. 

But, when I graduated college, and the reality of trying to make it as a writer hit me like an oncoming train, I finally did some research and saw that while the online journalers still exist, blogging, as a whole, has transformed into a sophisticated, almost bohemian, art form. Writers no longer need editors and publishers to approve of what they write, and while that can lead to many abandoned pursuits (and extremely mindless websites), it’s also a pretty freeing concept. 

So here I am, foot in mouth, trying it out. And though I am currently writing to no one, and probably have very little insight into this life after college so many people are trying to make, it feels like something is finally falling into place.

[image from givingchallenge.ning.com]