This morning, as I sat in my room at FSU, Switchfoot's "This is your life" came onto my music player. It made me think. Who am I? Am I who I want to be? This is my life. And the conclusion I came to is: Yes. I am who I want to be. I am extremely proud of myself and what I have accomplished this far in my life. I'm twenty-years-old and have many published articles in the college newspaper, many broadcast radio articles and I've got a great GPA. Life has been great to me. I've been in some ruts; I've been through some stuff I wouldn't wish on anyone, but overall I think that I've grown into a very strong individual.
I'm proud to say that I'm me. I'm not what someone else wants me to be; I am who I want me to be. I expect no less from myself. Who I am may be too brash, too outspoken, too loud for some people. That doesn't bother me. I've been told countless times how loud I am. Every time I'm told as if it might come as a surprise. Nope. I know it. I'm loud. I've accepted it. I've grown to love it. My voice carries -- it's a gift, really. I don't need a microphone. I don't need a loud-speaker. I have a voice that can project without any extra effort. It's hard for me to be quiet. This is a part of me.
I do things that make me feel proud about myself because that's all that really matters, isn't it? When you learn to let go of what others think about you, you learn that the only person's whose approval and pride matters is your own. My parents can tell me over and over again how proud they are of me, but it doesn't mean half as much as being able to say, "This is my work, and I'm proud of it."
This is your life. Are you who you want to be? I know I sure am. I hope you are too.
21 February 2011
20 February 2011
Writing
The ability to write is not a genetic trait, nor is it something that just anyone can pick up. That leaves it in a class all it's own. Who can write? And what does it mean to write something effectively?
Writing is something that comes deep from within the wrinkles and crevices of our brains. Writing comes from the valves pumping blood through our hearts. Writing comes from the acids in our stomachs and intestines. Writing comes from within a person. Writing comes from us physically and mentally. There are synapses that are fired while writing, as there are synapses that are fired during every second of every day. Why are the synapses from writing different?
For some people it's a feeling of euphoria, for others it's a feeling of despair. For me, writing is almost second-nature. Does that mean it's easy? Absolutely not. There are times that I write and delete, rewrite and then redelete. Other times I can sit down and just let my fingers type magical things into the computer's text box. The most revealing pieces of writing are those that don't use the backspace key. The stream of consciousness that forms on the paper (or in this case on the screen) can reveal some crazy things that exists between our ears.
How does one become an effective writer? Well, some say to read and read a lot. "The more you read, the more good writing you'll read and the more you'll want to emulate that," some say. I don't know how accurate that really is. Sometimes it depends on how well formed your brain is, and how good of a grasp on the language you're writing in you have. For example, if I wrote in Spanish (algo que puedo hacer), the stream would flow much differently than when I write in English. The more immersed in a language you are, the more mastery of it you will acquire.
If in middle school someone had told me that I would eventually begin to enjoy writing, no, that I would begin to love writing, I would have told them that they were insane. I'd have directed them to the nearest mental institution because they needed to check themselves in. Here I am, more than six years after leaving middle school, loving writing. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't write out my thoughts. I may not have gotten involved with the newspaper. I may not have decided to minor in journalism. I might not have become a news junkie. This isn't a case of the what-ifs. This is self-reflection and thanking. I am extremely thankful for every opportunity I have been given. Some opportunities I found for myself; some were given to me on a silver platter. I am thankful for all of them. Most of the opportunities have been extremely rewarding opportunities.
Writing well means to write deep from within. I just let the words come out of my fingertips onto the page. I'll reread them a few times, but usually -- when it comes to a blog -- I just let them sit as they've come out.
Writing is something that comes deep from within the wrinkles and crevices of our brains. Writing comes from the valves pumping blood through our hearts. Writing comes from the acids in our stomachs and intestines. Writing comes from within a person. Writing comes from us physically and mentally. There are synapses that are fired while writing, as there are synapses that are fired during every second of every day. Why are the synapses from writing different?
For some people it's a feeling of euphoria, for others it's a feeling of despair. For me, writing is almost second-nature. Does that mean it's easy? Absolutely not. There are times that I write and delete, rewrite and then redelete. Other times I can sit down and just let my fingers type magical things into the computer's text box. The most revealing pieces of writing are those that don't use the backspace key. The stream of consciousness that forms on the paper (or in this case on the screen) can reveal some crazy things that exists between our ears.
How does one become an effective writer? Well, some say to read and read a lot. "The more you read, the more good writing you'll read and the more you'll want to emulate that," some say. I don't know how accurate that really is. Sometimes it depends on how well formed your brain is, and how good of a grasp on the language you're writing in you have. For example, if I wrote in Spanish (algo que puedo hacer), the stream would flow much differently than when I write in English. The more immersed in a language you are, the more mastery of it you will acquire.
If in middle school someone had told me that I would eventually begin to enjoy writing, no, that I would begin to love writing, I would have told them that they were insane. I'd have directed them to the nearest mental institution because they needed to check themselves in. Here I am, more than six years after leaving middle school, loving writing. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't write out my thoughts. I may not have gotten involved with the newspaper. I may not have decided to minor in journalism. I might not have become a news junkie. This isn't a case of the what-ifs. This is self-reflection and thanking. I am extremely thankful for every opportunity I have been given. Some opportunities I found for myself; some were given to me on a silver platter. I am thankful for all of them. Most of the opportunities have been extremely rewarding opportunities.
Writing well means to write deep from within. I just let the words come out of my fingertips onto the page. I'll reread them a few times, but usually -- when it comes to a blog -- I just let them sit as they've come out.
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