Things I’m Still Learning

This is what I want to do. I want to sit down at a coffee shop and simply write. To have random, unfettered, unedited thoughts pouring out of my mind and write them down to share with you. That’s the way I feel this whole blogging thing is supposed to be. How it will be the most authentic. Not the stringently curated, grammar and spell-checked, SEO-organized, published pieces. Though I believe there is a place for those pieces too. Lord knows I care about good grammar (thanks Mama). And I definitely find it deeply satisfying when the little green smiley face lights up in a draft post telling me my SEO readability is a go. But there are so many things I’m still learning that I want to share before I figure them all the way out.

Sometimes I feel like I want to share what I write from a work in progress place. Raw and vulnerable and off the cuff. A work in progress, just like me in real life. Maybe I should start a series on that, open a little window for myself to start trying to be more comfortable this way with you. There is so much on my heart that I feel compelled to put into words. Stories that beg to be told. Not all necessarily for sharing publicly. But more than I have allowed myself to even tap into thus far.

The thing is, I have been fighting with myself about being a writer for more than a decade.

Pushing that part of myself aside. Neglecting the need. One big thing I’m still learning, is that I NEED to write. It goes beyond desire or hobby. Beyond dear diary entries and morning pages. You’d think I would have figured this out already. And in so many ways, I have figured it out. In the very first blog post I published, I mentioned that I’ve actually been writing since I was old enough to write at all.

“Hindsight is 20/20 and as it turns out, I’ve been using writing as a creative outlet and form of self-care long before I even knew what those things were or that I needed them.”

This past week I read a great blog post by Erin Lochner (one of my favorites!). She talked about how she writes every day. For herself. And how and why she chooses to publish what she does. My favorite quote in this post is: “relevance is less important to me than reverence.” Reading her words was/is so inspiring to me. This is why I read blogs. The kind of story sharing that comes from this place of truth and vulnerability is so real to me. I love having incredible writers in my life to serve as mentors to me.

Even having never met them, their stories have the power to guide me in so many things I’m still learning.

As Erin wrapped up her post, she promised “to write when [she] can, to publish what [she] can, to attempt to learn from the both of it.” You’ve got to do the work and attempt to learn from all of it. These are things I’m working on and still learning. Another incredibly talented writer, Callie Feyen (who also happens to be currently be my writing coach) recently shared a piece of great and valuable advice with me. She said “heed the words of another writer.”

So that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m going to keep writing when I can and publishing what I can. Keep learning along the way. And I plan to start sharing more of my work in progress. Because we can all benefit by learning a little more from and sharing with one another.

Yours truly,

Eliza B.