So, I Blog Now?

Yes, I guess I am blogging now... It’s something I’ve wanted to pick back up for a long time and I think this is the right time to rediscover writing. I think the last time I consistently blogged was my freshman or sophomore year in college. So, with my 2024 theme being “consistency” why not pick up the hypothetical pen and paper once again.

The truth is, I’ve become rusty. And, honestly, that’s the truth with most of my hobbies. I was a writing, rhetoric, and technical communications major in college, but I think all of the constant writing burned me out. Just like making art. It wasn’t fun anymore. It was a job.

A little known fact about me is that for my freshman and sophomore years in college, I was a full time art major. I loved bringing art to life and studying the history. In those two years I worked with all sorts of mediums; 2D and 3D drawing, sculpting, throwing on the pottery wheel, wood block relief, and more. I always loved art. It was a big part of my life growing up. I remember in my teenage years I would throw on my headphones and listen to the latest Linkin Park CD (Hybrid Theory) and haphazardly throw paint at a canvas. It was magical... It didn’t matter if it looked like anything. It was just the expression I was feeling at the time. No rules. No boundaries.

I keep thinking how freeing that was. To just create for the sake of creating... But when it came time to apply it to my studies, there were certain benchmarks you needed to meet for you to obtain an art degree, and for the life of me, I was not going to paint still life apples for my career. So, I changed majors. I realized that I didn’t want to ruin the thing I loved so much growing up that it would become a burden in future years.

Ultimately it did become a burden, just like writing. When I changed universities and changed my major to writing, I thought “great, no more tests for me” but I didn’t think of the impact it would have on my desire for creative writing in the future. Sure, I could knock out a 10 page paper in one sitting, but it was always on dull subjects like proposal or grant writing. It was never on the fun creative writing I had dreamed about doing. I wanted to write a novel. Discover the “art” of bringing imaginary worlds to life. That escapism was alluring. But again, like most of my hobbies, I abandoned it somewhere around the time I graduated and got my first full-time career as a technical writer working for a government contractor. Boy, did that one burn me out.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I miss it. I miss art. I miss creative writing. I miss the feeling of being completely free and unburdened by something you love. It’s supposed to be an escapism for the times when the “real world” is too tough to handle.

So, with my 2024 theme of “consistency” I’m challenging myself to pick the paint brush back up. Pick the pen and paper back up. Ultimately, this blog is a representation of me dusting off the cobwebs and trying to be consistent in my writing. So, let’s see where this goes together and I will share my progress along the way.