I’m Back. (Another Personal Note)

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

I’m back. It feels like I’ve been away for a while.

I’ve been writing a lot in this time, but sharing it elsewhere. Or sometimes, not sharing it at all. Working out what I do and don’t want to share.

I’ve realised that sharing my writing is healthiest for me when I focus more on act than outcome.

Or, read differently (pardon the pun), when I share without care for the response I receive.

If people like it, great. If people tell me that, of course it’s nice to hear. Of course I want people to find comfort and meaning in my words. Of course I want to be impactful and ‘valuable’ to others.

But that shouldn’t be my priority.

It feels ironic, actually — that posting about vulnerability and authenticity can all too easily become yet another means through which we lambast ourselves for not being [good] enough, albeit perhaps a higher stakes one because, shock horror, we’ve actually revealed ourselves.

Or parts of ourselves that we wouldn’t usually share, at least.

This interests me.

This saddens me.

This makes complete sense to me.

Wherever we go, whatever we do, whoever we are — we are still ourselves. We are still human. We can run but we…