RE: How to Slay that Dragon and be a Writing Machine!
@johannrandall, I think you’ve been doing pretty good, considering English is your second language :0)
I think a lot of us have that internal barrier when it comes to writing things that are personal. What if people don’t like it? Or even worse: what if they think you’re an idiot? Lol
When I first arrived here on SteemIt, I stayed on the safe side. You know: articles about crypto and stuff. I had been in online marketing for 15 years, and all that time I had been witing meaningless sales pitches. Writing had become a job.
So that’s what I brought with me when i came to SteemIt. I was always hiding behind big words and true facts.
After a while I got tired of it. It was all so forced and no fun at all. I considered quitting SteemIt alltogether, but decided to write one last post about my frustrations. That was the first time I showed SteemIt my real me. I can’t explain how free it felt to just write, be myself, be open.
That was a couple of months ago, and since that day, I opened up more every day. Not only on SteemIt, but in real life as well. And I noticed it has been paying off. Not financially (I wish, haha), but when it comes to connecting with people.
People like other people to be real. And except maybe for one moron as an exception, I never had any negative reaction. I’m still learning - it may feel safer to hide behind fake stuff and to pretend to be someone you’re not - but it is in fact way easier to be yourself. I try not to be hesitant about my doubts or my fears anymore - I’ve already experienced how the positive feedback from people can easily turn these around.
So I’d say: keep writing, keep growing, keep steeming ;0)
Thank you for your comment @simplymike and words of encouragement! It is greatly appreciated. I'm glad that you are experiencing that change, I am hoping it will have the same effect on me. Opening up and expressing my emotions are things that I don't really do, even in real life. I tend to be a quiet person, mostly observing people around me, listening and keeping most of thoughts securely in my head. I tend to follow the mantra, less talk, less mistake. I think, that is why I like communicating through writing more, I get to say what I want to say but I can also go back and delete things that I think are not appropriate to say. I've had many occasions where I spoke and afterwards, say to myself, 'should have said this... should have said that..." But as you said, we're still learning. I'll crack open in time. Have a great one! :D
Got the same thing going on. Wasting a lot of energy by asking myself whether I should have said this or that. That often creates a negative spiral of thoughts.
Because of things I have experienced in the past, I’m still learning to speak out my thoughts and show how I feel.
I used to be afraid that people would think I was weak for showing emotions. Step-by-step I’m learning that people love you even more when you have the guts to do show you’re not perfect. But it’s a long process, and I still have a long way to go :0)
SteemIt has been really a game changer. I’ve built this awesome group of friends on here (never thought that it would be possible to consider people you met online as being friends) who are always ready to support me when I don’t feel great. That shouldn’t surprise me though, ‘cos that’s how I’m treating other people too... I assume you get what you give, and the more you show yourself, the more it is appreciated ;0)
Yeah, but I don't dwell too much on the negatives, I just think how I could have said things better.
I've also said some things that got me in trouble or that might have hurt other people's feelings, without me thinking realizing what was happening.
I agree with you, sometimes showing emotions, or not, is a cultural thing and it is ingrained in us. Thus, it can be quite a challenge to change those habits that are deep in our subconscious.
Yeah, I think this site started out with that good intention in mind. But then again, it is how people use this technology to benefit them. Good for you for finding friendship online, but I think all my online friends are people that I have already met in real life. Except maybe for @flauwy, we've known each other online before meeting in real life. He was the one who introduced me to this platform. Maybe you'll be another one. :D