I had nothing to do today, so I decided to start a blog.
This idea wasn't made with any kind of plan attached. I have no idea where I'll go with this, or what I'll be talking about. But, as the late and great Benjamin Franklin once said, I'll wing it.
At present, I'm sitting alone in my apartment in Columbia, Missouri. It's a Tuesday, and it happens to be Spring Break. That said, there are very few people left in town. Due to a combination of terrible planning on my part and some unforeseen external circumstances, I've found myself alone in my apartment until I leave to see my family on Thursday. As a twenty-year-old swamped with work near the latter end of his sophomore year of college, this ended up being a godsend.
These days have been a much-needed breather in a stressful few months for me. I still did have a few responsibilities, but the solitude has been good for my focus. I'm currently in the middle of an appeals process to stay in the extremely competitive Journalism school at Mizzou (my 2.8 is a bit below the minimum GPA of 3.0), and I've finally found some time to get some serious work in on the various aspects of that process. I've also been able to catch up on reading for my classes. In particular, I've gotten really into my Philosophy text (Word & Object by William Van Orman Quine), which is always an interesting subject.
But what's really been interesting is what I've found myself getting done after my responsibilities: for the first time in almost a year, I've ended up doing a lot writing.
For the past several months, I've been in one of the longest droughts of my life when it comes to writing. It's not really a mystery as to why; I haven't been a part of any publications since I left my editor position at the Zou Feed in July, and I've had a hell of a lot to deal with academically during that time. Save for a few disparate works last semester, none of which were published anywhere, I haven't written anything outside of schoolwork (with the exception of poetry, which I'll get to later) and some extended Facebook posts.
What's strange to me is how, for the first time in my life, I felt little to no drive to write during those months. It wasn't a conscious decision to stop, nor was it premeditated. Yet it stuck for months, and once a habit is broken it's hard to start again.
That all changed about a week ago. A couple things led to this change, the first of which I'd have to identify as a writing prompt given to me by my friend Marshall. The prompt was, essentially: what if Jesus Christ was a living person and a tabloid superstar? It wasn't particularly original, nor was it especially thought provoking, but it tickled my fancy and I wrote it out within half an hour of seeing his prompt. It wasn't until I had finished that I realized that I'd just written my first creative work in years (again, excluding poetry, which I'll get to later) without even thinking about it. It was a bit of an eye-opener. Creative writing has always been a bit daunting to me, and I jumped that barrier without even thinking about it. It really made me think about my potential as a writer. There's so many things I could write about, and the realm of non-fiction is no longer a boundary for me.
The other major catalyst in my new attitude towards writing is, as I've mentioned, my no-longer-recent foray into the world of poetry. I've always written little poems and rhymes in my spare time, but I only started saving them into a collection around a year ago. It was even later still, near the beginning of the fall semester, that I consciously began to identify poetry as a hobby of mine. I've grown proud of my poems, and even joined a poetry group to share them with some friends (guys, can we please start that again?) over tea and coffee on Thursday nights.
Poetry has become, for me, a way to escape the stresses and complications of daily life in a constructive way. It's also helped me (among many other things) with my continuing battle against depression. I've become a much happier person over the past year, and poetry has been a big part of that. The ability to reflect on feelings in the form of written word is both cathartic and fulfilling.
In conclusion, I suppose the point of this entry is to say this: I love writing, and I plan to do a lot more of it. This blog will serve as both an outlet and a collection for me, simultaneously a therapy and a diary. I haven't decided how often I'll be updating it, but I'd say at least once a week is reasonable. So, get ready to be hearing a lot more of my thoughts. I hope you enjoy them!
I'd like to end with a poem I wrote recently. I think it fits well with my current feelings and position in life. Hope you like:
Glory Days
You've seen it all, the scars and tales
But not yet did you cry
You've met old Lucifer himself
And looked him in his eye
You've read your books; you've passed your tests
And now you want to prove
But life's not ready for you yet;
You've got so much to lose
You think you know the world, my friend
But there's still much to learn
The candle wouldn't see a flame
Without a wick to burn
You've come this far; now go on forth
And shine bright as you go
You're old by face but young by heart
And clever to the bone
The finish line may be in sight
But you've hardly left the start
The real world's close enough to taste
But home still has your heart
Enjoy your glory days, young man
'Cause time, it waits for none
Your story's still on chapter one
And the best is yet to come
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