I love writing.

#riiiiight

Seriously. It’s taken a while (800+ blog posts and counting), but this is an activity that I enjoy.

It’s funny, I love struggle. The struggle to find the right word, the right phrase, heck, to find a stinking topic to write about for a piece. I’m not polished by any means. My wife is the writer in our family, with her fancy English degree and newspaper clipping from past work (I say this totally sarcastically because, if she’d believe in herself, she’d be an amazing writer).

Somedays, it’s just the struggle to get words on the screen. I’ve got “Noticing Notebooks” all over the place, I’ve got voice memos on my phone about quotes, I’ve podcasts (damn those Washup Walkons, the past three or four have been full of stuff) that I draw from for topics. But mostly, it’s just grabbing the computer, opening up the WordPress document, and starting.

I know there are writers who are painfully organized. Flowcharts and graphs and pre-writing and lots of information to draw from for their work. I guess if I took myself seriously, I could get into that kind of writing. But that’s not me. We’ve had some professional development about executive functioning. The wordy definition:

Executive function describes a set of cognitive processes and mental skills that help an individual plan, monitor, and successfully execute their goals. The “executive functions,” as they’re known, include attentional control, working memory, inhibition, and problem-solving, many of which are thought to originate in the brain’s prefrontal cortex.

Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/executive-function

I only bring this up because much of what we talk about is exactly what I need in my life: Personally, professionally, and as a writer. I’m unorganized, I avoid tasks until the last minute, I get stressed because of said tasks, avoiding them even further. I’m a hot mess this way.

Yet, I enjoy the thrill of a comment, someone telling me how my writing touched them, made them think or reminded them of something or someone. That’s what brings me back, the fact that this 50 year old, graying, balding, overweight (not obese anymore thank you very much) dude from rural nowhere in Iowa can bring a voice to people literally all over the world. This month, my blog has been viewed in 20 countries. That to me is mind-boggling. How does this even happen?

And yet, when I point this out to my students, that they too have this voice that could carry across the globe, they shrug their shoulders. Or worse, tell me they don’t like to write.

#nowords

I know! While it took me a while, but I love the fact that my voice carries to India, South Africa, the UK, and so many different countries. I love that my voice, the voice of an Iowan, just trying to make his way resonates with someone, and that gives me hope and courage to keep going forward to the next post.

So, since you are reading this, do you love writing? Do you have a blog? I’d love to hear more about your writing journey in the comments below.

And if you’d rather not, then I wish you the best of Fridays and the most epic of weekends.

But, before you go, could you do me a favor? I’ve got a former student with family in Ukraine. If you are the praying type, please send her and her family prayers for protection and healing. If you aren’t the praying type, just some positive vibes sent both her way and to her family.

Thank you! ❤️