This past week, you did not hear from me because I was busy turning 30 years old. This age is the first in a while that has felt like a true milestone. I know I am supposed feel more anxious about starting a new decade of my life, but I am somewhat relieved to find myself leaving my twenties (mostly unscathed).
No, rather than being a reminder of my fleeting youth, this birthday was the first during which I felt like I am on track with living my best life, which means, living a life of writing. I am happy to be in a state of mind that allows me to write for myself, to write for others, and to read other people’s work with a focused mind and open heart.
If you’re like me, you know that as writers, we don’t always have this luxury. Life has surprises around every corner, and there have been days that I’ve not felt like writing, and in the worst periods, months of feeling like not writing.
I often mention in this blog how my relatively newfound ability to write more frequently and with more ease is not due a writing class I took or a motivational book I read or any wise words from a mentor. Instead, it was the most difficult time in my life that eventually helped me reach this point of happiness.
Counter-intuitive, I know. But that rough period forced me to analyze my life, myself, and identify my priorities, all things which may have never happened had I not reached that low-point. When I addressed the non-writing problems in my life, I soon found that many answers to my writing problems followed suit. I found that I was slowly able to write more.
It wasn’t a change that happened overnight. It started with a ten minute writing session here, an essay submission there. It started with building my confidence as a person, and then a writer. It started with developing strategies to take my writing further than I had. It started with telling people “no” when I knew I needed to focus on writing.
I couldn’t tell you the exact moment I became a more confident and productive writer, but during my reflections upon reaching 30, I realize I have done so. All these small steps I have taken in the past few years have helped me reach the stage I’m at now, a writer who is creating posts before her day job (I would never have woken up hours before I needed to just to write when I was in my early twenties!). At 30 years old, I have people asking me to write and edit for them, which is a dream come true for my younger self.
Life is hard, and so is writing. But they can help each other, and I hope that you find your own path to living your life of writing, whatever that may look like for you!
Krista J. Iris Watson 