A full circle

How often do we do something just because we are 'told' to? Not necessarily by our parents but by society who silently whispers (and sometimes not so silently) their opinions. You know I can completely understand that there are 'appropriate' ways to do things and then there  are just ways things are done. But who makes up the rules? A mathematician would say that there is a formula and with that formula will come a certain response. However what then for failures? Science would argue that something tried at least 3 times with the same outcome is therefore true (what I learnt in school); its own kind of formula; yet Science cannot explain everything. Linguistics; linguistics can teach you how sentences cannot purely exist with one word, but are we really sure about that? No. So what is the formula for success?

Recently I've been reading about how people have learnt to cope with struggles and how they have overcome them.  Some have been successful by hiring help, talking about their issues or relearning things that were once lost; the ability to function normally for example; however if you put them into a formula they would never be considered successful. Why not? This takes me back to a lecturer at University who was teaching the biomechanics of sprinting to me as a first year uni student. He explained the correct technique for effective sprinting, that it was the fastest and most efficient way of moving the body down the 100metre track and then he paused and said...but if someone gets up and runs like a gumby and beats everyone are you going to force them to change their technique because its not going to be the technique you want it to look like when they are running? We all of course laughed because we were imagining chickens running down a tartan track dressed in Lycra but his point was clear. So it takes me back to writing. Don't know what to write? Who cares. Start small and get bigger. Worried about writing successfully who cares? Just start writing. Writing is the best thing because it gives back to you. It revolutionises you. I'll explain.

You are sad. You write, you get happier. You are happy, you write, you get happier. You are angry, you write, you burn your writing, you get happier.

Each time writing makes you happy, it doesn't matter if someone else was going to pick it up and say, that's not really worth publishing is it now- you've wasted my time! Tssk tssk. All it matters is that your mood turns full circle when you write, you feel better, your world becomes better. Now that might sound airy fairy but I can guarantee you that if you would talk to a shrink they'd advise most people who were worried about their success or any other issues to write them down on paper and throw it away at the end if you want to. The process is not so much the writing but the process. Now your really thinking I'm airy fairy right?! Writing is for us first and foremost, if we right for us it will in its very nature become transparent to somebody else and there you will have your audience. If I write in a journal about sadness, someone even just one person will read it and feel the same afflictions as I do...with that the purpose of writing is achieved, except this time you've created a revolution in someone else. Even if you are just starting small.

So the next time you hear these things:
-Why did you do it that way?
-Why didn't you do it like this?
-I think you should be doing this now.
-You won't be successful if you self publish
-You must make your blog like this
-You know you have no chance without an agent

Give those comments the proverbial rude finger, shake it off like water off a duck's back and say, well you know what...I'm not mathematical and I don't need a formula so just watch, someone will pay attention to my work & when they do I'll be grateful.

Enjoy your evening/day lovelies! Happy Writing & thanks for reading! :)

PS: This doesn't mean though to not take peoples advice, just remember that you don't lose sight of the direction you want your writing to go because someone is advising you on your writing ;)