Not what I’d planned on
You ever make plans that don’t go quite the way you want them to?
Yeah, me too.
I have a post almost done that I wanted to publish today. There’s a timely nature to the post, and I was more than a little beyond frustrated last night when I just couldn’t make any time to finish it.
It included this picture…
and links to some awesome blogs that have taught me so much about UnDesign (like this one). (Yes, these things really did connect.)
However. The day job extended well into the night yesterday, and the day job comes first.
So, this post you’re reading isn’t what I planned to share with you today, and while I’ll probably salvage some parts of the other post and re-use them in a different way, it won’t be what I planned.
That’s OK. Sometimes, it’s the things I don’t plan on that bring me the most joy and satisfaction.
Once upon a time, I planned on being a Writer. That’s right: a Writer (not a writer). And certainly not a blogger. (Mostly because there were no such things when I was making those plans, but even if there were, I don’t think that’s what I would have planned on being.)
But here I am, and so glad it’s where I’ve ended up. Blogging is the best thing that’s happened to me as a writer/Writer.
If you’ve got any inclination at all to share your words with others, you might want to check out a post of mine that was just published according to plan. You’ll find it at Voicecatcher, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting, inspiring, and empowering women writers in the Portland/Vancouver corner of the world.
In it, I’m writing about the benefits of blogging and how it’s the best thing that’s happened to me as a writer. If you think blogging might be your thing, too, I hope you’ll check it out.
Right now, I’ve got to skedaddle to the job that pays the bills. Hope you all have a good weekend.
Feb 01, 2013 @ 06:13:17
Great post on Voicecatcher, Rita! You summed up so many of the reasons I started a blog, too. One big reason for me was to start “living out loud”. Ed and I were doing quite a few neat things, in our home and life, and only our close friends knew about them. We were keeping our cards too close to our chests. We are both energized by good thrifty ideas – and feel strongly about living life with intention – and blogging about it was a natural way for two introverts to share their ideas. Not all our ideas are brilliant. Few of our posts are perfectly written. But that’s sort-of the point! Putting ourselves out there is opening our lives up to an opportunity for more creativity and self-expression is the point. (Oh – and getting a paid writing gig out of it was a nice perk.)
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Feb 02, 2013 @ 07:27:14
Yes, not being perfect (or striving for perfection) is a huge part of the point for us. I think the teacher in each of us is also a large part of why we blog together. When I changed jobs and we were no longer teaching together, we realized after a while that we really missed doing that work together. Blogging as we are gives us much of what we got from teaching together–without any papers/projects to grade!
If a paid writing gig came along, that would be pretty sweet, too. Maybe. I have a hard time keeping up with what we’ve currently got going on!
Feb 02, 2013 @ 11:19:53
Good post on Voicecatcher. I found myself nodding, not because I came at blog writing from the same end that you did, but from the opposite. I’ve spent so many years writing for the daily deadlines of newspaper that my writing is direct, top-down, plain vanilla, and “get-er-done.” While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I spent a lot of years missing the creative component of writing while the copy desk was breathing down my neck every day at 4:30 p.m. Now, I seem “stuck” and unable to slow down, think, and strive for both a little perfection and some creativity. I want to change gears, but don’t know how to knock loose habits that have become ingrained for years.
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Feb 04, 2013 @ 12:11:13
I know a little bit about what you’re talking about. Right out of college I worked for a small publishing company, and I spent my days crafting words for someone else. I found that when I came home, I couldn’t find my own voice very easily. (And wasn’t much interested in spending more time crafting words.) I think the best thing to do is what you’re already doing: Showing up. Putting the words down. Putting them in front of an audience, so you can see what effect they have. I love your blog, “creative” or not. (And I vote for creative.)