Gaining Inspiration
I was recovering from my recent medical travails when I browsed through YouTube one evening and saw a post involving two of my favorite Medium personalities: Robin Wilding who interviewed Jason Provencio. I have interacted with both of those people in my time on Medium, and I highly recommend subscribing to Robin's YouTube channel https://youtu.be/afwlNzebKNw?si=TOoF1zb83qUGZlha .
Both of these people have inspired me with my own attempts at writing. While I may never be as successful as they are, my enthusiasm is undeterred. I listened to the entire episode, grateful to see these two great writers sharing their collective observations and advice to all of us wanna-be writers out here.
I am starting my recovery from the August debacle that involved my Medicaid and insurance issues. I am finding my life balance again. My anxiety medications are beginning to have an effect at last, after a month without them. I can write for more than thirty seconds without feeling that I wasted my time, feeling frustrated, and stopping entirely. I still consider Grammarly to be my best friend when I write. Most of us probably do, to be honest. I acknowledge my shortcomings and strive to do better with each story I write, and I owe that tenacity to Robin and Jason.
One of the things that struck me from the YouTube video was when Robin and Jason said that you have to write from experience to let people know that I am a natural person and not some AI chatbot or an impersonal, professional writer. I always feel self-conscious when I write. I use a screen name for personal reasons, but I don't lie. I try to make my stories unique and entertaining, but I wonder if my stories are all that good. I don't let that doubt stop me from writing. It just lowers my expectations about the interest they generate.
Jason talked about writing two or more blogs a day. I don't have that level of professionalism yet. It takes me several hours to generate an excellent five-minute story I am happy with before publishing it. Most of the time, I fail to reach that threshold. My thoughts come to me in short bursts, and I try to keep up with them as best I can.
Writing is something that one must do regularly to become proficient and successful. I need to find that self-discipline to make this happen for me. I used to have a much better routine with my writing. Still, adulting got in my way for too many years. I only started writing again on a semi-consistent basis when I was in the hospital and had nothing else to do with my time between visits from Hal. Until then, I will be a mediocre writer with dreams of grandeur and nothing more. Until I conquer my self-doubt, nothing will change, but all I can do is continue writing and getting better at it.
A curse that haunted me when I started writing in the hospital was that I wrote because I was angry. I was angry at myself for my failing health. I was angry because I felt I had not accomplished more with my life until then. I was angry that the world wasn't a better place because of all the hatred I saw on TV daily. Even when I left the hospital after nearly four months, I stayed angry.
It wasn't until early in 2021 that I finally had enough of the anger. After the January 6th debacle, I decided my anger wasn't solving anything. I re-dedicated myself to meditation and started yoga to occupy and calm my mind. It was a difficult journey until I realized that Kindness was looking for me while I was wasting my time thinking I was searching for Kindness.
I initially started my blog on WordPress, like 99% of writers do, but after a few years, I felt my writing was going nowhere. My writing was like screaming into a hurricane because no one cared. I decided to leave WordPress and found Medium.
Medium has always felt more welcoming and accepting to me. While the thought of making some money from writing appealed to me, I wasn't naive enough to believe that it would happen. Instead of making money, I made friends like Robin and Jason. They have graciously supported me through my nearly one-year journey on Medium. I have other friends, new and old, on Medium, but since I started talking about Robin’s video with Jason, I'll keep my focus on them.
I'm not trying to curry favor from Robin and Jason, I want to thank them publicly for the private encouragement they have given me and to recommend them as fantastic friends and supporters.
https://youtu.be/afwlNzebKNw?si=dfsWWsUBl7O27c3r
Read stories from Robin Wilding 💎 on Medium: https://medium.com/@robin_wilding
Read stories from Jason Provencio on Medium: https://medium.com/@Jason-P