Hello, world. (Because that's every first post, right?)
Well, I done goofed up. I can't figure out how to import my existing WordPress blog posts, so I guess I have to start over.
So, hi.
Really, I've been blogging since the times of yore (Myspace circa 2005), but I've been in and out of it for several years.
I used to write religiously. For a while I wrote reviews for every single movie and television show I watched and every book I read. Those posts got thousands of views a month on Myspace and my previous blogs on Blogger and WordPress. But those days are long behind me.
Let me be clear: I do write every single day.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Every morning after I wash my face and make a cup of coffee, I drink a glass of cold water, take an Allegra, and write my morning pages. (It has to be in that order, or my routine is out of whack which often ends up with me forgetting something, like my protein shake or packing a lunch.)
What are morning pages? I handwrite three full pages in my composition notebook. It's free-association writing in a judgment-free zone. I don't worry about sentence structure, my line of thinking, or what the topic is. It's not necessarily journaling, though I do often reflect on the previous day's events. It can be affirmations, goals, gratitude — anything.
The idea was introduced to me by one of my comedy sketch writing instructors. I believe he got the idea from The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, but I have never read that book.
Like blogging, I did write my morning pages for a while and then eventually fell out of the habit. However, I picked it up again this summer as a way to help clear my thoughts in the morning and ultimately improve my focus, and I can honestly say that it does indeed help. The few days that I can't write for whatever reason, I have this I-have-to-write feeling that lingers the entire day. That's a good thing, right? To feel guilty about not writing?
I have found that I need to write early in the day. I'm a morning person, though I don't always wake up early. I used to wake up at 4 am regularly to write: client work and creative personal projects. But it's hard to motivate myself to do that. I need sleep to function, and it's hard to go to bed early all the time because I often perform improv on weeknights. (As I write this, it is currently 1:23 a.m. CST on a Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Ha! I'm blaming it on the unsweet iced tea I had with my dinner.)
I do have a full-time day job, so writing after work is not ideal. I'll do it if I have a deadline or find myself in the mood to work, but that's still not often. I have the mornings to myself, and I can set a timer on my phone to focus for 10-30 minutes and not worry about Facebook notifications or work emails.
The reason I've started a new blog today is because I am a writer. I want my own outlet to write about topics that I am passionate about, on my own time.
In a perfect world, I'd write a post every Sunday morning and publish. But I know that isn't always going to happen, so I'm not going to fret and turn this into a chore.
I want to write because I love it, not because it's an obligation.
If you're joining me on this journey, thank you. I appreciate your support. I can't promise that you'll always love what I publish, but what I can promise is that I won't pretend to be someone I'm not.
- Cristy