There is a war that rages inside me between my head and my heart. It is part of the beauty of being me and part of what comes when you are born with an unquenchable fire.
My children have it too, but they show it in different ways.
I watch them when they are sleeping and remember what it was like to lay my head down upon a pillow without a care in the world. I stare at them and see untapped potential and endless amounts of innocence.
While they sleep I stand at the door and wonder what they are going to do with their lives and who they are going to become. There is endless amounts of joy in watching them grow and untold amounts of stress and struggle in trying to help them get to where they are going.
The Write Words
Maybe it is because I am just starting to understand who I am meant to be and just beginning to see the outline of how to get there. Maybe it is because ten thousand posts, more than five blogs and almost nine years of blogging has led me over the hills and through the woods to a place that offers answers to the questions I have yet to ask.
The write words are what I seek. Every single time I sit down at this table and ease my butt into this chair I look for the write words and wonder what it is going to take to pull them out and share them here.
It is part of why I try to include music and pictures in these posts. The goal is to paint a picture with words and to share with you what I see inside my head.
When I find the write words you see what I see and feel what I feel. The write words are what motivate you to respond to my call to action and they are what we use to create connections.
Social Media Madness
I think about all of these things because I have to fight the social media madness. Even after a million years there are days when I get caught on the hamster wheel and ask myself if I have done a proper job of posting, promoting and commenting.
Am I out there tweeting, pinning and Facebooking the right way, at the right times and with the right people.
Intermixed there is a feeling of disdain and a disconcerting sense that sometimes I give in to the social media madness and try to be other than I am. It doesn’t happen often but the moments come when my ego gets involved and I think that if I just worked a bit harder my posts would be smarter, my words would be wiser and the net result would mean would be richer.
But for better or for worse I shake off that feeling of nonsense and look for the topics and posts that make me happy. I write first for me and then for you.
Stories and Such
Some of my favorite moments come from visiting things like Pray for Him or What is a Person Worth. There is a certain joy I take in writing about certain topics.
Every time I see List Posts Are For Lazy Bloggers I smile. I don’t care if you like it because I love it. That is a post where I feel like I hit square on the head.
I Wrote This For You is another post where I feel like I got it write. Sometimes it happens. If you dance in the fire you find the rhythm you seek,
Life doesn’t have to make sense. All we have to do is take care of our families, friends and those who are dear to us. That is what the blog remind me of.
When I read it I remember dark haired girl who talked to me about not wanting to break a boy’s heart and 273 Blogging Tips I Never Shared & Still Won’t.
There are layers upon layers of material and magic here. It is up to you to decide if The Pinterest Predicament & The Rule Of Four is worth more than a few moments or if this is The Best Cover Letter….Ever.
As for me, well I am still asking questions like Is It Intuition Or Desire? and working on finding the write words.
One day I may give it all up. I might walk away and not say a word or I might just say goodnight and goodbye.
This took my breath away. I’m struggling to find my voice again after some personal issues. This couldn’t have expressed my feelings any better. Got my Chairman’s Choice award at Dude Write. Great work.
WG
Hi WG,
I appreciate that. Thank you. I am glad it resonated with you.
I hope that I can have the longevity that you posses in your blog. Well done!
It’s funny. I’m coming up on one year at blogging. I never considered myself a writer. I still am hesitant to refer to myself as that because there are so many good writers out there, I don’t really feel worthy of the term. Yet, as the year passed, and I began to interact with other bloggers. Many excellent ones, and sometimes they say they like my writing.
It’s reassuring and now, I’d like to write better. I can’t begin to express how good it feels to have the comments and know there’s people out there actually coming back to read what I put out. I try to return the favour to them as well. Yet like most, I struggle at the commenting and reading and trying to write something just out of my head and not in reply to a theme or something. That and still fit in real life as well. It’s a fine line to walk at times.
Hi Ken,
It doesn’t matter whether you are a great writer or a hack, it can be lonely. It is hard to write when you don’t get any feedback and you feel like your work isn’t as good as some of the others out there.
What is really nice about writing is that if you stick at it you have an opportunity to improve. It is like a lot of other skills that can be polished and upgraded through practice.
The two biggest challenges I see aren’t based upon quality, but time and the need to sustain our effort. If you can do those things than good things come from it.
I know what you mean regarding the sharing of posts. By the time I am done putting my heart and soul into a piece, it feels like overkill to have to promote it in order for it to be read.
Hi YB,
Some days I just don’t have the desire or wherewithal to promote and sometimes I figure it is a necessary evil. All depends on our goals I suppose.
I like this idea of the “write words.” I know just what you mean and appreciate the clever phrasing. Virginia Woolf wrote that she knew that she had to write about a topic when she saw it shimmering around the edges. Take a shimmering topic and the write words and you’re golden.
Hi Kristen,
I am not sure if I ever heard that Virginia Woolf phrase before, but I like it. Shimmering words shines for me- I really like that.
Very well said! When I write, it is more often than not just to satisfy my own thirst. I have noticed that when I write for others, I am not at my best. So I learned to put myself first when it comes to writing in order to yield the best results.
As for social media/commenting …who has time for that? I try to return the favor to those who comment on my blog but often becomes overwhelming and time consuming. I still wonder to this day how people manage to read and comment on every blog in their blogroll every day! Is it unemployment? Have they no lives?
Hi Dan,
It makes a significant difference in the quality or so I would argue. When we cover that which interests us it is much easier to insert our passion and personality.
I hear you about the time. I try to make the rounds but life gets in the way and I just can’t get to everyone. It is not a personal thing.
Hey Jack
Some wise words here. Social media madness can overtake the best of us.
I find myself wondering whether anyone uses Twitter to be social any more or whether it’s just another way of advertising.
Hi Tim,
I think some people do, but you have to make an extra effort. I try to do so and am usually pleased with the results. Some good people can be found there.
Is there a difference between writing for you and writing for us – when the words walk in beauty?
It’s a question I’ve been thinking about.
Hi Stan,
Good question. I am not sure. I am thinking about it too.
Great post! I think we all struggle with the write words. Social media can be a great place to share and discuss ideas, and at the same pollute our heads with bad ideas. Meaning, it can really spin us in some bad direction. In that sense, I think the writer’s journey is still a very private one, one that only they can determine the right direction, changes, turns and evolutions. Good luck!
Hi Geoff,
Social media is a giant hamster wheel and I work hard not to let myself spend too much time spinning on it. It is not always easy to do, sometimes you have to ignore the advice that so many people give out.
I think you are right about a writer’s journey being private. It is different for all of us and sometimes lonely, but that is part of what makes it so cool to me.
I like the questions and seeking, even if it makes me a bit crazy.
I know what you mean, sir. Tough being a writer, yet also wondering how to go about the marketing side of things.
Although I assume you’re writing because you enjoy it – so focus on that, the rest will come!
Hi Daniel,
It is a dynamic environment and one hell of a juggling act, but I do love it. There is so much joy in this journey I can’t imagine not walking it.
Write for yourself and not for me. Who am I anyway? I have an opinion, sure, but I am not in your head and never will be. I can get a sense of who Jack is by your writing, what you tweet, what you share and the music you promote.
Dylan was a dude…….we play it out the best we can for whatever its worth……
I love the angst of these posts. Write or wrong…..:-)
Hi Ralph,
You wouldn’t want to be in my head. It is a scary place. 😉
Readers are important, but I have to find ways to instill that passion into these posts or they just fall flat. Not every time at bat is going to net a home run, but we have to try.
Dylan could flat out write- just awesome.
Keep writing what makes you happy! It is the only way to truly express yourself powerfully, and it will be of more use to your readers than anything else! Nice post!
Hi Mark,
Welcome to the blog. I am biased, but I agree with you. I think when we write about things that make us happy we put ourselves in a position in which our passion and personality come through.
That makes a distinct difference and it benefits everyone.