I am blogging like it’s 2006 again. Countless people write about social justice and their experienced reality and they find praise and acclaim. I stifled my words for a long while because I believed that I would be even less able to find a job without stifling my words. My experience is valuable and would have served me well had it been in my possession prior to its acquisition.
Rebecca at Basics by Becca expressed her view on allowing the potential opinions of other people to dissuade one from following their own way. “Find out all the things that make your heart sing and go after them! It might be a little bit scary at first – but who cares? Don’t let other people’s opinions stop you from following what makes you happy. The more time we spend doing our passions, the easier it becomes to find our voice [1].” She further admonishes one to stop caring what others think about you. “This goes hand in hand with the last point – once you stop caring so much about what others think of you, you will start to feel a lot freer. It’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay to be different! Embrace your authentic self and let it shine [1].” She recommends being bold, and letting go of the past. The phrase about letting go of the past possesses great salience for me. “This one is hard but so important! Living in the past keeps us stuck and makes it impossible for us to find our voice because we are too caught up on what has already happened instead of living fully in this moment right now [1].” Other great action points including finding one’s tribe, expressing one’s feelings, and letting yourself be free. “Take off the mask and just BE YOURSELF with no apologies attached. Don’t worry so much about whether things are perfect or if people will judge you – just be yourself and don’t let anyone else define who that is. You are free to be anything you want, so take the time to figure out what makes you happy, go for it fully without apology [1]!” She says to be authentic: “Be honest about what matters most to you in life, because only by doing this can we be fully authentic. If society’s expectations are not on your list, ignore them and follow your own path[1]!”
Jennifer Hamady in Psychology Today mentioned that “Creativity is an imperative for a well-lived life [2].”
Sam Watson said “One of the advantages of writing blogs is that it can help to refresh and consolidate you thoughts on a topic. “ [3] His view coincides with my own.
Research has shown that writing about traumas improves time management over time. Dr. Pennebaker found that writing for short periods of time produce improvement, and writing for longer periods of time also produces improvements [4]. In an interview on the subject, Kim Mills asked “Do people have to write on a regular basis to see a really significant effect? Do I have to write something every day to really experience the benefits [4]?”
“Oh my God, no.” Dr. Pennebaker answered. “To give you an example, I write maybe two or three times a year when something miserable is going on. When I hear about journaling and writing every day, I just get nervous about it. I would hate that because I use writing when I’m dealing with something that is ugly, unpleasant, painful. And if life is going well, why in the world do I want to introspect that? I want to enjoy life when it’s here and when there’s bad things, writing for me helps me get through them [4].”
1. Becca, “18 Powerful Ways to Find Your Voice.”
2. Hamady, “The Truth About Creative Expression.”
3. Watson, “Geostatistical Modelling with R and Stan.”
4. Mills and Pennebaker, “Expressive Writing Can Help Your Mental Health.”