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Last year when I trained for my first half marathon, I went through some incredibly profound changes. I decided to use running to reinvent myself. I was at a point in my life when my old identity no longer fit. Kind of a spiritual "Fat Guy in a Little Coat." As I look back now, I so wish I had chronicled the changes I went through. There were some really deep things I figured out on the road. Thing is, while I was finding my strength in my legs, heart, and lungs, it was all too raw to actually put it all out there for anyone. I couldn't actually face a lot of it until I was across the finish line.
A friend encouraged me to write the 40x40, and as I started marathon training he said, Kid, you really need to write this down. If not for anyone else, for yourself, so you can remember all the things you went through. I took this to heart, and honestly decided I didn't want to have just another running blog. I love you running bloggers, I troll you like it's my second job. But I wanted to create something that I can always have to remember my adventures and truly chronicle the 40x40. Warning: last night I started planning the 50x50, so this is not the end of this craziness.
Procrastinators UNITE: Tomorrow
Problem was, I just didn't want to start blogging because I wanted it to be so perfect. This is a character flaw which has plagued me most of my life. I couldn't decide on the perfect name, or a theme, or a URL. So I did nothing.
Then add the pressure of having an elementary-school BFF who is a brilliant blogger, who's had a post picked up by Huffington Press and another which landed her an interview on our local 5 o'clock news. Sorry, Sarah, I just realized by all serendipity that both of our first posts were themed "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." I SWEAR on this picture that I did not plagiarize you. Yours is way more profound anyway.
Tell us, Kid, what is the Mystery of Ass?
Compile that pressure with the incredibly dry, witty blog of my running-partner-dreamer-schemer who is not just training for a marathon, she's finding her awesome AND raising money for epilepsy therapy (consider donating...it's such a worthy charity). Oh and then the handfuls of other friends who have inspiring blogs, write blogs for work, etc. Self doubt wracked me into paralysis. But then I just up and started writing. About an hour after I created my template, I published the first post. It was not perfect. None of them have been and none of them will be. I'm not sure I even like the name. But I'm not getting caught up in the details.
And that, my friends, is how you start a blog.
Bravo! Writing, my dear Kid, is a lot like running. At first, it's a lot of walking. You have to get your muscles into shape. Sure, you don't buy shoes or energy blocks (though, I wonder if those would help...) but the idea is the same. You have to get your writing muscles in shape. You have the tools you need (grammar, vocab) but flexing those muscles takes some practice. It starts out all "See Kid type" and ends up more like "Watch, as the Amazing Kid jots words on the page without dropping this priceless Ming vase!" Some days, it's an uphill write. It's all about learning to tackle those hills.
ReplyDeleteOh Muse, I love this analogy, and it gives me courage to treat my writing with much more gentleness. If only there were caffeine infused blocks to make it easier to get through the tough spots!
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