Today I Wrote A Lot

But unfortunately, you can't polish a turd.

Today was a day where I really tried to write. Actually, I didn’t try to write, I did write. I wrote most of the day. I probably have about 6–8 hours invested into trying to work out what I wanted to say in a different article, but I didn’t like what I ended up with. So I’m letting that article go. Instead, we’ll have to settle for whatever this turns out to be.

I’m still new to the writing game, at least in writing with the intent to share with other people. I’ve been writing in journals for a good portion of my life. It started as a way for me to document my experiences, figuring that I could one day hand the journal to my children so that they could see what their dad was like when he was younger.

In a lot of ways, it has been a consistent and unexpected companion over the years. I didn’t realize how valuable writing really was to me until recently.

When I thought about my other creative endeavors, music and photography, I thought about all the gear requirements necessary to create. There is something simple about writing. All you really need is a paper and a pen. It feels like the ultimate creative challenge. It feels pure and I’m really interested in exploring that. I want to see if I can do what I’ve done in music and in photography, but with words instead.

On a completely unrelated note, my daughter gave me her CampSnap camera today. It’s a digital camera that has no back screen, so it forces you to be more immersed in the moment and less focused on reviewing your photos. When I finally decided to go for a walk and take a break away from the article I brought the camera with me. Here is one of the pictures I made of the lake near our house.

In the other article I was trying to make this connection between our suffering and the lessons that it can bring us. I was trying to articulate how suffering isn’t wasted and that there is good that can come from it, given enough time to reflect. The whole ‘silver lining’ idea, but I was trying to pull it together in a way to try to help those who are in the grips of suffering right now.

The article was all over the place and it wasn’t working. I had to let it go. Maybe later I’ll have an easier time connecting the dots, but today, it felt like I was pushing a boulder uphill. I was suffering alright.

So here it is. This is the thing that I will publish today. This sharing of the writer’s journey. This gaining of experience, however disappointing.

The reason I share this with you all is because I am sure that there is something that you are working on right now in your own life. I’m also almost certain that there are times where it feels like you are spinning your wheels and going nowhere. My hopes are that you can identify with what I am writing here and realize that you are not alone in your struggle.

This is the way of the creator. Some days the ideas flow easily and other days are a slog. Today, I paid my dues, but I still found a way to push something out to the world. As long as I publish this within the next 15 minutes, I’ve kept my promise to myself. My goal is to publish every day. Today I realized how hard this might actually be.

But here we go . . . clicking ‘Publish’ now.