In life we all have things we are good at. We have things we love. And we also have things we share with others. Sometimes these different aspects of our lives overlap.

We share our love of Star Wars with our friends that also love Star Wars. It is fun to talk about and it brings us joy. And seriously who doesn’t love Star Wars. We also pursue different activities and become some level of good at them and we share those moments that we are especially proud of with our friends and family.,

But we also have things that we keep to ourselves. We all have those things we enjoy but don’t tell anyone about because it isn’t cool to be someone who like that. I legit like Nickleback. I don’t care what the haters say. We often also have talents and abilities or crafts we enjoy but we don’t ever share with anyone because we don’t feel like it is “good enough”.

I am here to say LET THAT SHIT GO!!!!

I spent a large portion of my life being embarrassed by the things I liked and enjoyed. Or I felt like I wasn’t good enough so I stopped doing something. Society tries to shape us and condition us and pressure us to give up all the things that give us joy.

Be proud of the things that bring you joy

I used to enjoy reading comic books growing up. But I stopped reading comic books because at a certain age society tells us you shouldn’t be reading comic books anymore. But why? If it brings you joy and it isn’t hurting anyone, do it.

Over the past several years I decided to get back into reading comics. And I increasingly try to share what I am reading, especially if I pick it up in a physical format. I can’t believe what I have been missing out on over all these years. SO much amazing art and interesting storytelling that I missed out on. I just accepted it wasn’t for me because that was what I thought society told me.

I am here to tell you that it is for you. Enjoy it and share it proudly.

Learning to draw

I used to enjoy drawing when I was growing up. I eventually stopped drawing because I felt like I wasn’t good enough. It doesn’t help when your cousin is an amazing artist. But his ability should not have been a reason to judge myself harshly and stop doing something that I enjoyed.

Over the years I have tried now and again to try to start drawing again. But, I have always been self conscious about it. I never felt good enough. I was always embarrassed of my drawing.

Recently I have made a more concerted effort to actually learn at least a little bit about drawing. First in the physical medium. Then quickly diving more into learning how to draw using the Procreate app on my iPad. This has been one of the best decisions I have made.

I am able to dip into this creative world at almost any time. (There is an app for my iPhone as well.) I can get my creative juices flowing. And I can feel that little bit of joy that creative expression brings to life. Even if it is just playing around and doodling it’s no real intent. Just bring colors and shape into existence is good enough.

But, now I have found a person I enjoy following and learning from online. I have learned a lot and completed tutorials from Art with Flo. And Doing something I would never have done before, I am sharing my drawings. Just putting them out into the world online for everyone to see.

I am trying to got let go of the judgment I placed on myself.

Writing: My first true joy

If anyone knows me, they probably know two things about me. I run and I take photographs. But, long before I found my love of photography I enjoyed writing. In school I was probably the only person who would choose to write an essay if given choices of projects to work on.

I did well on writing assignments. It was something I was good at and enjoyed. But, outside of an educational setting, I never had a reason to write until I found photography. I started a blog and began writing on the internet at some point.

Now I am a pretty regular writer on the internet. For two years I published 1 blog post every day for 2 years. That is 730 days in a row with a blog post that included at least a small amount of writing.

To this day if someone reads my blog and tells me they like my writing, that means more to me than a compliment on my photography. I am pretty confident in my photography. It isn’t the best in the world but it is pretty good.

But I never know what to think of my writing these days. In an academic setting I received regular feedback on my writing. When I was working on my dissertation I had a professor ask if they could use my writing as an example of what writing should be like for an end of program research paper.

But the kind of writing I do now is nothing like academic writing. It is probably the polar opposite of academic writing. My former professors would probably be aghast. So I have no good feeling of what it is like to read my words on the internet.

Even though I write regularly and put it out there for the world to read, I don’t honk anyone, including myself would call me a writer. But, maybe I should call myself a writer and be proud of my work.

If you like my writing feel free to tell me so. I would love to hear it.

If we all just were open and honest about the things that we loved and shared it openly with the world this would be a much happier more comfortable place to live in.

What is your secret talent or secret joy?

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