I created this blog some years ago for one reason: I wanted a platform to get me writing on a regular basis. I also wanted to keep writing on a regular basis and I didn't worry so much about the things I should write about - until recently. Throughout my life I've had friends and family telling me I could write and that I should write. Throughout my life writing has always been something that I've done, put down for a while and picked back up again. In recent years it has become more obvious to me that I probably shouldn't have put it down for any length of time. It's always felt better than any of my other artistic interests, and maybe I'm better at it than some of the ones I've pursued - such as playing music.
From my earliest memories of school, English class was always the one class that held my interest and kept me paying attention. These days I'm amazed at how many people don't see the value of having even minimal written communication skills. It's an age of text speak, non-sensible abbreviations and emoticons and it's leaving much to be desired for the sake of speaking quickly/brevity. Maybe we're missing out on a lot with that notion.
Sometimes I think faster than I type, and although I use texts as much as anyone these days, the typos that I can be prone to seem to bother me more in texts than on an actual page. Wow - how did I let that slip by? I can fault the tiny keyboard on my iPhone 8 Plus, which in the words of a dearly departed acquaintance, is like talking into a piece of toast, but maybe I should give thought to just how fast I'm rushing to speak - when it's entirely possible that I should stay silent, or at least wait a bit to "talk".
Our electronic connection age we live in may be making some things too easy to do - and too quickly. It's taking away our duty to think before we speak because we can simply respond, hit the return/send key without enough thought. Why wait to see someone and talk to them in person, reaching for the phone is not reaching far enough and even with the phone being close at hand (too close perhaps), it's simply too much trouble to pick up the phone and call to speak to someone. Phone calls have never been easier to make, and not many people are willing to wait for actual human interaction.
What's my point? We're talking too much and saying too little. What happened to the beauty of silence and waiting, anticipating real human interaction and looking forward to it - or dreading it? We think less before we communicate and we act/speak immediately - sometimes in anger and haste. That's not usually a good place to come from. Communication is easier, more impulsive and less thoughtful. Is it the breeze that we feel brushing against us on a windy day - or is it the gazillion binary digits that everyone is zapping off into the clouds that once we hit send can never be taken back?
So now I'm thinking more about this blog - and creating another one, to be of benefit. If there is technology that makes communication faster and can have a much larger audience, then shouldn't I strive to put out thoughts that are of benefit to this world? What if a kind thought that any of us can see on any social media page, is the one good thing someone else sees on this, or any other day? If I'm going to put something out there into cyber space, I need to be mindful of what it is I'm putting out there. Am I saying something that's self-involved, too emotionally driven that no one needs to see, much less have litter their mindset?
I'm currently in my third week of a writer/editor apprentice program with Elephant Journal. I've been overwhelmed and a bit uneasy about my discovering just how much work my writing needs to be of benefit to others and not pages of self-indulgent drivel. I don't always think my writing is such drivel, but I am facing the fact that oftentimes it is - and I want to move away from that and be of benefit.
So I'm kicking around ideas for a new blog that will be of benefit, that will put forth something good for others, helpful for others to carry with them on any given day - maybe every single day. Our thoughts are energy, and they can either inspire us and keep us afloat on the sea of this life journey, or they can sink us and set us back. When I signed up for the writing/editor apprentice program, I had the option of a social media program as well. Originally I didn't see the usefulness of that, so I opted in for the writing & left out the social media. Then I saw this quote from Waylon Lewis, and it really got me thinking:
"What if we could believe in ourself, love our work, help others, do things we're good at, and pay the bills...all through the simple act of sharing on social media?"
- Waylon Lewis
So now I have something to think about - I think the thing that's important here, is that paying the bills is towards the end of that statement. I think that if we can do the first four items, paying the bills will happen. Stay tuned - I hope I'm write...err...right. Thank you, Waylon Lewis for this inspiration - and the whole notion to be of benefit. Peace, good people. Have a great Wednesday.
