a quick reflection on writing (pt. 2)

It’s been about 6 months since I started writing posts here, with this being the 20th post (woohoo!). And based on my goal, only 10 more posts to go before I can share them with others! Here are some thoughts on the process so far:

One. Writing is cathartic. Even if I am not writing about the thing that is bothering me at the moment, simply writing something and releasing out some thoughts is relaxing in itself.

I don’t always like writing, sometimes I have to push myself to meet my goal of writing at least 30 posts before sharing them, and have at least some work done that’s just mine, but lately, I have also been feeling the impulse to pick up the pen and just write, whatever it is.

Two. I’m really glad I took the time to write out my first entry where I outlined why I wanted to write in the first place. It helps me stay focused on just writing and not give too much thought to extraneous/temporary things like how many likes or views I get. Because I know I want to keep writing, regardless of any forms of external rewards (3).

Whenever I feel like I’m being influenced by external factors, or even being distracted by any wishful daydreaming, I go read that post to ground myself again.

Three. I started to experience thoughts about what would happen if so-and-so in my life were to read my blog. How would their perception change of me? There are a few ways I changed my thoughts to ground myself:

a) I told myself I’m just as important or unimportant as anyone on this planet (a debatable topic, I know…). If someone gives me their time to read my work, then I’m thankful that they did so to begin with, when they didn’t have to.

b) If someone does have a judgment about me, then that’s okay. My job is to just write, that’s it. A painter paints. Commenters comment. Critics critique. A painter is an artist, and for them, painting is a form of self-expression which they must keep on doing. I feel the need to write, so I should just keep writing.

c) I can start by accepting myself exactly how I am and have been. This means that if a few days or weeks later I find anything “cringe” about my writing, generally, I’m not going to go and delete or edit it. That was how I was in the moment, and that’s fine. I can’t deny that fact/perception. Perfection is the enemy of good and progress anyway.

In fact, many articles and youtube videos that helped me change my perspective positively were not totally perfect anyway. Yet, they still helped. Right now, that feels more important to me.

Although, this doesn’t mean I’m completely ditching the idea of improving my work in the future. If I see any flaws in my writing, I’ll note them down to maybe address them later. Right now, I must keep writing. That’s it.

Four. I quite appreciate the fact that WordPress has a community where people can read each others’ blogs. It’s nice to know that someone might read what I write, and it’s not just going into an empty void.

That’s all for now. Next up: complete the goal of writing 30 posts.

Related posts:

1. First Entry
2. a quick reflection on the writing process (pt. 1)
3. 25 Ways to Kill The Toxic Ego That Will Ruin Your Life – Ryan Holiday