I Heart Putting Words Together

Chris Brogan wrote about his love for blogging and it's been something I have been thinking about myself for a couple weeks. I have been blogging for about 8 years now, though this blog is a recent one, a public one and more work-related in comparison to my others.

I love writing in general. I think I always have. I was never good at Mathematics or science based subjects (blech!) but I always loved English (later French) and writing stories and expressing myself in words. I first realised I was kinda good at it when I was in primary school and I would get gold stars in Composition and would have my teacher read my essays to the class. I  conducted my very first interview for print back then as well. I was 10.

When the borough of San Fernando was elevated to city status, there was an essay competition and while the details are now foggy (c'mon now...you expect me to propel my grey matter that far back??), my teacher selected me to be one of the 2 girls to enter. The essay had to be about the city, its people, its history and my essay was going to be on Rodney Wilkes, who sadly, was not well known (probably still isn't, which is a travesty). We all knew about Hasely Crawford (also from San Fernando) being the first Olympic gold medallist (and only thus far) for Trinidad and Tobago, but Rodney Wilkes was the first T&T medallist ever. Period. I remember going to his house one lunchtime, which was not too far from school, sitting in his living room, asking him lots of questions, seeing his medals and trophies, and old photos and hearing his story. I wrote it all down, put it in an essay and on City Day I was awarded a certificate, presented to me by the Mayor, in front of hundreds of people, for having one of the best essays from all the entries. I would love to read that essay today, if it even exists still. Maybe one day I will go find it, if they have not burnt all those City Day memorabilia.

But, yes. I love writing and as Chris said, it's something you have to do regularly, if you want to keep your mind constantly regenerating itself and creating new ideas, and to improve. It's like anything else - sports, music, cooking. It takes practice to get better. And when you write, you ultimately have to read. I don't know of anyone who writes in a vacuum. With this blog, even though it's my ramblings, I still have to read - I am forced to make time to read and keep up with the world because sometimes work...life gets in the way of little things like that. So kudos to my blog for keeping me less ignorant in the face of early mornings, busy days, tired weekends.

At work, it's not always the stuff I am passionate about writing about, but I do have to write at work.  Still, with communications one has to be mindful of who the audience is, and adapt to suit their knowledge level, their background and other intrinsic details that can make or break the message. It gets a little more complicated at work, but I guess it still comes a little easier to me than to most.

I have encouraged friends to blog because experiences are so varied and can make for such great stories, sharing, networking. Some have gotten married and moved away, to new environments, experiencing culture shock even. I (via my blog) would be all over that! Sometimes time is against us but it is probably my one passion - writing. I use my breakfast time to scribble, or in this new age, type. Some people claim blogging is dead, with the advent of micro blogging but I don't agree at all. Microblogging is great, but for those who want more than 140 characters and who are restricted by 140 characters or status updates, blogging is an outlet and a conduit for self expression and illumination.

I also get to meet interesting people and have met different people through blogging. It's something that's mine as well. On my blog, I don't have to get approval from higher powers or permission. It's my self expression, and my little space on the web to say what I want, though of course I still use tact, discretion and try to respect others. It's something I can do anywhere and at anytime. It is a stress buster, lemme tell ya and can be therapy. It's fun and I like, in other spaces, making my friends laugh cause sometimes I am just hilarious when tickled. And even if one person reads my junk and enjoys reading it, it is really something special to know that. I appreciate my 1.5 readers who keep coming back! Thank you.