Somebody once told me, “anyone can write a blog.” …Ouch!

Okay, let me digress a bit from taking this comment too personally. Yes, indeed, anyone can write a blog. And, to be fair to the owner of this seemingly spiteful comment, I’m hoping it wasn’t directed out of malice or insult. Perhaps it was a way of warning me that blogging isn’t a sufficient resume tool; perhaps it was a glaring observation. Either way, I’m not blogging as a means of adding fluff to my resume. So, naturally, I’m slightly offended when people imply that I am using a hobby of mine as a means of cushioning some presumed lack of work experience. I genuinely just love to write, and this blog serves as a means of championing that passion. I indeed hope that writing will be an integral part of my future career, so in this sense, it is certainly also serves a practice for putting myself out there.

Putting oneself “out there” is a vulnerable feat in any capacity, especially when disclosing personal struggles and insecurities. I’m willing to write about these things because they are both therapeutic for myself and hopefully helpful to others. If you don’t find either of those to be true, the beauty of the internet is that you don’t have to read it. If, however, you have a deep affliction for story-telling, honesty and connecting with others, I would love you to be a part of this shared blogging community.

…The above two paragraphs were written months ago with no intention to publish this for eyes other than my own. I clearly got bored and didn’t finish it, but this has become relevant again and I wanted to bring it back to life. I have since received several similar comments from friends or acquaintances- a mix of well-intentioned ones, oblivious ones, and overtly passive aggressive ones. I often don’t respond.

I’m not entirely sure what people’s purpose is in telling me this sort of thing. It isn’t earth-shattering news that anyone has the ability to start a blog. In fact, I would love if more people had them. I now uphold that most people probably aren’t ill intentioned when telling me this, because, when I’m not overanalyzing it (as I do everything) it is a fairly innocuous comment. But I hope people understand that this is something I really care about, which makes the implications of the comment slightly aggravating.

There is no reason why I should have to justify my intent for writing a blog. If people truly want to judge, belittle or even disagree with both the platform and content I have chosen to share, then that is their prerogative. I’ve explained why I enjoy writing a hundred times. Writing gives me a method to organize my scattered thoughts and endless ideas. But beyond my end, an important part of this expression, for me, is having someone on the other end that enjoys, and is receptive towards, my expression. The combination of these things gives me that glowing, butterfly-esque feeling that people have when they fall in love, or when they hear exciting news. It is my ‘chicken soup for the soul.’ So, to have a platform that allows me to indulge in this passion is a cool experience. Sure, I ultimately hope to ‘graduate’ to a different or more mature platform, but for now, I enjoy this in my spare time.

So, to everyone who says, “anyone can write a blog,” or thinks that I am doing something ridiculously stupid and embarrassing -which, maybe I am- here is my response: This is my platform for passion and my way of putting myself out there more than I typically would. The feelings that I described above are things that I think you should feel when you indulge yourself in something you’re truly passionate about, regardless of the platform. When you find something that you’re this passionate about, don’t give up on it. If you haven’t found something that invigorates your spirit in this way, I urge you to keep searching for it.

Jenna