When I went off to college, I started a blog. It was a way for me to communicate to the friends I'd parted ways with in high school. I wrote about daily events: my classes, and the guys I was dating. The writing was not intriguing and nothing was planned or edited in any way. It was boring to even me.
I deleted the blog when I began graduate school. My focus became psychoanalytic theory and twentieth century American fiction. After graduating, I began teaching composition at various colleges, universities, and academic programs. I was engulfed in other people's writing, in criticism. Years later, I burnt out. First from the overload of teaching six English courses and earning less than $25,000 a year, and second from shifting to secondary education and seeing the desperate state of the public education system. I learned that education, the pathway I sought to incorporate my love of English into my everyday life, would not provide the foundation for a happy life.
There was a period of time where I abandoned all notion of using my degrees. I decided that I would still read, and love writing as I had my whole life, but I would have to do something else. After some time working the front desk in service industries, opportunities to write slowly came my way. I wrote website biographies for hair stylist friends, and began a writing contract on oDesk. Writing, again, became a part of my life. It gave me purpose.
I don't know if I will ever be able to write full time, but I do know that I want it to be a larger part of my life. I want to write in a style that is thoughtful, and indicative of my training, I want to be proud of what I write, and I don't want to write solely about what I did that day or who I was dating. I want my posts to be focused on a specific subject, whether that be economic development in the city of Buffalo, or a new DIY project I tried, stolen from Pinterest. I don't want to always write about myself directly. I want to let the subjects of what I choose to write tell the reader who I am.
I deleted the blog when I began graduate school. My focus became psychoanalytic theory and twentieth century American fiction. After graduating, I began teaching composition at various colleges, universities, and academic programs. I was engulfed in other people's writing, in criticism. Years later, I burnt out. First from the overload of teaching six English courses and earning less than $25,000 a year, and second from shifting to secondary education and seeing the desperate state of the public education system. I learned that education, the pathway I sought to incorporate my love of English into my everyday life, would not provide the foundation for a happy life.
There was a period of time where I abandoned all notion of using my degrees. I decided that I would still read, and love writing as I had my whole life, but I would have to do something else. After some time working the front desk in service industries, opportunities to write slowly came my way. I wrote website biographies for hair stylist friends, and began a writing contract on oDesk. Writing, again, became a part of my life. It gave me purpose.
I don't know if I will ever be able to write full time, but I do know that I want it to be a larger part of my life. I want to write in a style that is thoughtful, and indicative of my training, I want to be proud of what I write, and I don't want to write solely about what I did that day or who I was dating. I want my posts to be focused on a specific subject, whether that be economic development in the city of Buffalo, or a new DIY project I tried, stolen from Pinterest. I don't want to always write about myself directly. I want to let the subjects of what I choose to write tell the reader who I am.
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