I have never considered myself a writer, nor do I now, but I did take a short writing course last summer that was taught by a good friend of mine, Sarah Selecky.
In this class, we went through several writing exercises that I enjoyed very much. The idea that stuck with me the most, and the one I am choosing to exercise now, was the freewriting exercise.
You simply sit your ass down with a pen in your hand, and a piece of paper on the table in front you, or in my case a laptop, and just start writing.
Whatever comes to mind, no matter what it is, you write it down. Freestyle your way into a short story, or ramble about nonsense, it really doesn’t matter. You just need to do the damn thing.
The idea of doing the damn thing is exactly why I am here. I have a reminder in my project management software to write every Monday, and guess who has hit snooze on that task for several weeks now?
This task has haunted me for months because I always say that I am too damn busy to start writing about nothing, or something for that matter. Regardless of what it is I am writing about, I just don’t have time for it.
But the fact of the matter is that I do have time for it. I do have the 15 or so minutes that this will likely take to write. And yes, I have that time every damn day. Just like I have time for the gym, just like I have time to finish that project I started last Fall but have not wrapped up.
I have the time. I just have not prioritized it, and more importantly, I have not overcome the itsy bitsy fears that surface telling me I am not a good writer so why bother.
So here I am, like the dude walking into the gym on January 1st ready to build the beach body he has always dreamed of having, ready to crush it and make shit happen.
Or am I just rambling because that is what I am supposed to do, according to someone I admire? I’m just another dude putting words down in hopes that someday I write the thing that inspires the person to make moves.
That IS the reason. I really do hope that one day someone stumbles upon my rants and decides they too can do the thing. And maybe just maybe, they do a thing worth doing, and the world is that much better off.
One can dream, and one can write.
Here’s to doing both in hopes of leaving a tiny little positive ripple in someone’s reality through my thoughts, theories, or ideas.
