our untethered moments

We don’t always have to know where we’re going. But we are forced to choose what we want to do in each moment. Out of the options in front of us, in the here and now, what do we want? How can we tiptoe our way into the life we want to live?

Somehow it has been 10 years since I started this blog. A whole ass decade. I didn’t know where I would end up. I didn’t know if it would be “worthwhile.” And I started it at a time when I really could have used some extra money from a second job or a better paying job (I was teaching). But I knew I wanted to write. I hoped that the direction I was heading was to be a full-fledged writer (i.e., a writer who is paid for their writing!), but there was no way to know. Instead of blogging, I could’ve spent those hours sending in queries to different publishers to find someone who would publish my work. I did some of that (to no avail) but mostly, I just wrote. And wrote. And wrote.

Unsurprisingly, by establishing a writing practice, I became a better writer. Having a blog forced me to write for an audience – albeit a small one. It pushed me to stay consistent with my writing – I knew I wanted to post something nearly every week. And it helped me explore different types of writing to try it on for size. To see what I enjoyed. And what my audience responded to.

And now here I am, about to publish a freakin book.

The things we choose to do don’t always have to make sense – financial or otherwise. I never made money directly off my blog but I guarantee it helped me level up my career and my skills in the long run. Plus, it’s a place I get to write exactly what I want and when and how I want. The only restrictions and deadlines are the ones I impose on myself.

Hopefully, I can bring back my practice of blogging now that every waking moment isn’t spent working on (or recovering from working on) the book!