Why to Write

Sitting down to write a blog post is all at once a frightening and underwhelming adventure. One suspects both that the world will judge whatever weak excuse for writing she offers up, as well as fearing that no one will read her anyway, because who cares?

I have always been afraid to start a legitimate blog for both of these reasons, and suspect this fear stems from a Christmas dinner I had with my family while in middle school. My grandfather silenced the dinner conversation with the abrupt question of: “What is a blob, anyway?” He meant blog. My family discussed the benefits and harms of the ways in which freedom of speech can be exercised through self-publication, but my suspicion of blogging was set. After all, what’s the good of posting your thoughts for the world to read if everyone else in the world is doing the same? It just feels like another drop in the bucket. Who would want to be a drop?

As of late, however, my convictions have shifted. I still know all that I’ll ever be is a drop in the bucket, but what no one ever talks about is what a wonderful trip that drop must have had. I see that my friends who blog have as consequence become more thoughtful and articulate through the process, and that in itself is reason enough to try! Not only that, but discipline is learned through practice. So why not practice?

My friend Benjamin in his blog asks “why do you write?” In response I say: to be a better writer! I am under no misconception that my blog will tell my readers anything new—rather, I hope to only make myself more perfect through practice.

Here you will find anecdotes from my travels, short stories, poems, thoughts on current events, and whatever else seems worth while. Enjoy, and go forth to do the same.