write with no intention of posting

i’m so grateful Ashley has taken the time to guest post for me today!
i have been working with Ashley for almost a year now {wow a year!!} and she has become one of my absolute best friends as well as a great mentor.
i feel so indebted to her for all she has done for me.
even now as we are moving and it has taken a lot a lot a lot of time to get ready, i have probably been slacking more on my work leaving her a little stressed to cover for me and yet here she is writing this great post for me because she’s just amazing like that!

i love this post because it was exactly what i needed to hear right now.
i get in a rut a lot with my blog and wonder quite frequently,
“why am i doing this again? why do i feel like i suck at this?”

and a lot of times the answer is because i’m not writing my true feelings and being too careful with my own blog. so i needed this great reminder to write for yourself, write from your heart, and write without worries of what others think.

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Up until a couple of years ago, I was an avid journal writer. As I got older, I only wrote in it when things got a bit tough, and not nearly as often as I did during my angsty teen years. But the purpose was always the same. Write my most personal feelings that poured out from the bottom of my heart and never show a soul. It was the one area of my life where I never felt judged. Even in my own head, I'd judge myself. But when it came to writing it out, I accepted myself for whatever I felt (even if it was flawed) and moved forward because I knew I was just being honest with myself. And in my book, that counts for a lot.

But my gut tells me that if were to go back to those days when I wrote regularly, I'd find some of my best writing to date - even though I was much more immature and much less experienced.

There's something so pure and raw about the emotions and words that fill a journal's pages. They're written without concern for others and without our inhibitions getting in the way of what we really mean. We're not sugar-coating the emotions, the tones, and the purposes behind our thoughts because in our minds, no one should ever be reading them. It's our own place to open up without worrying about the tone of disapproval or the look of concern from someone listening. It's our personal judgment free zone.

And when you're not worrying about being judged, the truth comes out in the most elegant of ways.

So what if we wrote with no intention of posting? What if we just decided to write because we can? It's what I used to do, honestly. When time and money didn't seem to be driving forces behind the words I thought or spoke, I wrote just because. Just because I needed to get something off my chest. Just because I felt like it. Just because I didn't need to feel my free time with TV, or the Internet, or video games, or movies. But as I grew older, things needed a purpose. We have to reason with ourselves and suddenly say that the "childish" things we did without reason or purpose are a thing of the past. But they don't have to be.

Because the beauty of the situation is that if you take some time to reflect on what you've written, you should be inspired. Possibly inspired to throw caution to the wind and post it anyway. Possibly inspired to write a post you'll not be concerned with posting. Possibly inspired to live a little again and do something you've never done before, or haven't done for a while.

No matter what you're inspired to do, it doesn't matter - it's a purpose. The fact is that you're inspired and that's what matters when it comes to blogging. Real inspiration is what writes solid posts that speak to someone's heart, even if it's only your own.

So write your next post with no intention of posting it and see where it takes you.

 

 

[and i’m actually posting on Ashley’s blog today too as a contributor. so check it out!]