What I’m Looking Forward To
Image by Suzy Hazelwood: https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-and-red-typewriter-1995842/Change is scary, but it’s inevitable. Life is all about change, and I need to accept the fact that nothing stays the same. That all good things come to an end. Eventually, I’ll get tired of pouring my heart and soul out to a world that constantly rejects sensitivity, but until then, I want to embrace what’s to come with open arms. I’m looking forward to growing and changing to better benefit myself as an established writer and, perhaps, one day, a future editor or educator.
Image by Eva Bronzini: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-inspiring-words-on-a-brown-paper-6956352/Like many of you, my one dream in life was to become a writer. As a kid, I always got lost in a good book, and books were always comforting escapism from dealing with the real world. I loved reading fantasy fiction books and poetry because I loved how these writers unleashed fascinating real-world issues into something so visually creative; that words can automatically create an entire world in my mind. I believe that’s what inspired 9-year-old me to create poetry and short stories. As I got older, I still wrote lots of poetry to express the harshness of growing up in an unloving household and to get rid of all the negative emotions that came out. This was something I believed I was good at, and was crushed when I was told by my family that poets don’t make money and that I should focus on something profitable. That statement crushed me. What felt like a fun outlet that I saw myself doing as a livelihood turned into a slap of realistic rejection.
Image by Timothy Paule: https://www.pexels.com/photo/be-brilliant-neon-light-2002719/I knew I wanted to take writing seriously as I got to high school, but always let the fear of the unknown hold me back from pursuing creative academic and extracurricular activities. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school English class that I truly believed I had potential and that My English teacher noticed that I had the capability of becoming great. He asked me what I planned to do for my future. I told him I had no idea and that I wanted to give up on school altogether. He looked at me and told me not to give up on writing, that I was a brilliant writer and I had it in myself to become an even more brilliant writer. Brilliant writer. Those are the two words that still stick in my mind to this day. Little did I know at 18 just how much those words would mean for my future self.
Image by Ann Poan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/workplace-with-laptop-and-opened-diary-5797903/It took some time, but I kept my dream of being a writer alive by writing book reviews for newspapers, short stories for literary journals, and poems on all kinds of different sites, all for fun. It wasn’t until late 2019 that I finally got asked to become a freelance writer for Adoption.com. My life story and my words finally had an impact. Although I wrote for a little over a year for the site, I learned how to effectively write with clarity, pitch great articles, and keep on writing to help others learn and grow within the adoption community. My writing meant something to someone else. Even writing and reading articles here on Medium has inspired me to become better and work even harder to evolve as a writer.
Image by Brett Jordan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-scrabble-tiles-on-a-white-surface-8549950/It’s beautiful when you surround yourself with people who see the power of your words and how much you love what you do. My daughters look up to me when they see me working hard to write and feel inspired to create their own stories and other creative pursuits. I know it would be even harder to study the writing craft if it wasn’t for my husband and kids who gave me the time and space to write. I never want the writing spark inside to die, and it had me thinking about not letting other future writers stop doing the thing that sets their hearts on fire. I still have a lot to learn about being a professional writer, so I’m looking forward to studying and one day becoming an editorial assistant, an editor, or a writing teacher. I want to fully embrace my passion for writing and guide others along their writing journey too. I want to be the person my high school English teacher was to me, who sees the greatness in other aspiring writers and encourages them to embrace the brilliant writer within.
[image error]What I’m Looking Forward To was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
