Sep 30, 2015 / Inspiration

You Are Enough

What if the next time we sat down to write, we didn’t worry about being interesting, we didn’t worry about being liked, and we didn’t worry about being reblogged?

I recently told a friend of mine — a single mom who works in the healthcare industry — that she should write a blog about her amazing life. Her response to me was, “It’d be the most boring blog in the world. I’m nothing special.” That’s a direct quote. Nothing special? She’s raising three kids on her own, works in an ER in a massive city hospital, speaks three languages, and she studied opera in college. If she’s not special, I don’t know who is.

Her response really surprised me, and it reminded me of someone from my past who was the flip side of the self-confidence coin.

In my early 20s, I was taking a class with an outrageously flamboyant teacher. She found her life so interesting and loved telling us wild stories of the minutiae of her day. She could probably tell a story about boiling water and make it enjoyable. One day, after making us roar with laughter, she shrugged at us in disbelief and shrieked, “Stories just happen to me!”

My mouth dropped open. She really thought that more stories “happened” to her than to other people.

“Anything that gets your blood pumping is probably worth doing.”
Hunter S. Thompson

I was taken aback by the hubris. It was such an absurd statement because…well…stories happen to everyone. Did my teacher lead a more interesting life than my nurse friend? Nope. What made her a great storyteller is that she saw herself as the fascinating main character in the wild story of her life.

And she was right. But guess what? We all are.

The most frequent question I field from bloggers is, “How do I get more people to read my blog?” I suspect they want the answer to be something SEO-related, and I hate to disappoint, but my answer is almost always, “Pick a topic you want to talk about. Choose subjects that you can’t wait to write about, whether a million people will read your blog, or just your best friend.”

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
Albert Schweitzer

What if there were no pressure to be interesting, or wild, or unique, or marketable? What if the main ingredient in the recipe for a great blog post is simply the exuberance to share yourself? I bet we could excite readers just as much by writing about finding a killer sale at Marshalls, as we could about winning the latest season of Project Runway.

There is such a divide between a story that needs to be told, and a story that reads as if it were written out of obligation. The writers that I admire the most are those who can write about any topic, and draw me in with their exuberance. A writer’s moxie makes any story magnetic.

I am drawn in by their passion, not by their perfection.

What if the next time we sat down to write, we didn’t worry about being interesting, we didn’t worry about being liked, and we didn’t worry about being reblogged. What if, when we opened up a new post in our editors, we started by thinking, “I cannot wait to tell you this story…I might explode if I don’t share this with you.”

If we love our stories, our stories will be loved.

When you sit down to write, before you put pen to paper (or cursor to screen), think, “I can’t wait to tell this story!” Inject that feeling into the whole text. Sometimes, I think, “You’re not going to believe this…!” while I write a story.

Come up with your own variation on the theme, and write with energy and excitement.

When you read through your older posts, can you feel the difference between the posts you were enthusiastic about writing, and those you wrote in order to hit a deadline?

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  1. This has summed up how I feel about blogging! I blog so little because I feel like I NEED to have something particular to say. Maybe we should start considering blogs as our own online diaries rather than a marketing scheme..

    Liked by 3 people

  2. I started my site today and I kept thinking, if i am a good writer to continue this. I see lot of people around me who use words that I have not heard before which sometimes demotivate me, makes me think whether I should first learn such words before I start writing. But, now I am tempted to comment on your post that it really feels good after reading your post on my first day of blogging. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  4. What an inspiring post thank you for reminding me about why I blog.
    I just had an urge to tell my story.

    ‘ If we love or stories, our stories will be loved’ so very true.

    ‘I am drawn in by their passion, not by their perfection’ now that is reassuring because perfection is hard work. I prefer just to tell my story without the hard work.
    Thank you

    Liked by 2 people

  6. I am new to blogging! I have thought of a few topics but don’t know whether I am good writer. This blog gives me alot encouragement. Thank you! Please check out my blog and tell me what you think! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  8. What a great post to read as I begin my blog today. Maybe it’s not so much of a blog as a personal place to bare my soul, and not be afraid of what comes out.
    I mean, what is a blog? Isn’t it anything we make it be? So then, maybe I am correct and this is exactly where I need to be…

    ILYMTCCCD.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

  9. I share and love to!!!!! The rest is not of my concerns, though I’m sure in the world of blogging and such these concerns exist. To write, to create comes from within and outward. As the leaves are touched by the wind so our words and thoughts do the same. Writers, artists, musicians, those who are deeply involved or looking in express. Advocates express, we all do and those with whom it resonates, it does!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I like this post. I’ve been writing about reward-based horse training, but since I have written a few personal blogs about my personal view on (un)ethical training more and more people shared and read it. While I was thinking that my personal view wasn’t really interesting, I found out that my view was shared by a lot of other horselovers and they were happy to find out they where not alone.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. I am new to blogging! I actually dont know what to share..all topics bubbled up in my mind…am soo confused and don’t no which topic to share and which is catchy to the readers. This blog gives me great encouragement. Thank you for sharing this..
    Please check out my blog and tell me what you think! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Hello writer, i do realise that one must not concentrate over being exciting and out of the box, but unless one doesn’t know the art of ensuring certain elements in writing- elements of curiosity, of personal connect, of something that gives them a new information or new perspective to an old information, you will definitely be lost in the zillionth of the articles that gets uploaded.
    Although just to add on, I think writers most of the time write becasue they like writing. Later at some stage they may want to hope and take some steps to reach out to more people, but he is writing for the shear love of writing, expressing her feeling, her thoughts.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Beautifully written – thanks for sharing ❤ Thinking about it, I never thought of writing so that people would hopefully like me. I just started because I was curious what blogging was like. I thought that maybe, if I share my stories about my mess, I'd meet people with same issues and we can help each other out 🙂 Maybe I write so I feel that I'm not the only one dealing with this stuff 😉

    Liked by 2 people

  20. This is EXACTLY what I needed to read today, to get me back into writing. My life is overflowing with what I consider “ordinary stuff” right now, which is what has been holding me back. Now I think that ordinary stuff deserves another look!

    Liked by 2 people

  21. Hi! I am not gifted in writing yet I am trying to create blogs that I think would express how I feel and would be relatable too. Thanks for your blog. Now I know that this world is not just for those who are creative enough to play with words and cool enough to have a lot of followers. I am working as a copywriter in a company though I am really not good at this so I feel like I am not worth of every penny they spend on me. So I am trying to flourish or improve what I have now by reading random articles and trying to create some write ups. I hope that there will be more people like you that would appreciate the random blogs and won’t be so mindful about the technicalities! =) God bless you!

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Exactly what I need to know and read. Thank you! I’ve actually had some trouble getting people to follow me or whatever and like my posts, but this shows me a new insight. Thank you so so much!

    Liked by 5 people

  23. Yes! Sometimes, writing a blog ABOUT writing, it can feel a bit ‘meta.’ I stuggle sometimes to be personable and to stay story-centered, while also informative. Beautiful post! Very encouraging!

    Liked by 4 people

  25. So inspiring! I started my blog a few months back but stopped cause I was worried that the content was intense. But this post inspires me to resume ….I want to share my story with the world…and so I will!

    Liked by 4 people

  26. This was truly inspiring for me. I am also new to blogging but not to writing. THIS will be somewhat of a therapeutic tool for me. My I hope my life and it’s many tribulations will encourage others who suffer the same battles of mental illness. Wish me luck and thanks for the inspiration.

    Liked by 4 people

  27. Awesome post!! loved the message.
    I guess the number of likes and follows on the blog is something almost all of us bloggers go through at some point.
    I, for that matter, was once told I write stuff that makes one feel low
    But, whatever I write, I write it from the heart; hopefully that should suffice.
    I loved the way you manage to induce clarity in my mind. Perfect post with apt words and smart conclusion- Keep up the good work!

    Peace
    The Copper Chick

    Liked by 4 people

  30. I agree. I always do what I want in my life. Then either, I do not have money or I have a lot of it but i never feel the impression to be poor.
    Writing is the same thing. Writing it is the same thing, as long as you do it, you are always the winner because you transform emotions in creations.

    Liked by 2 people