From the Publisher's Desk: I Have a Dream
It's been quite a journey for me over these last six years writing to an audience. Yep, from my first ramblings on my very first blog; a way to process what I was thinking after a hard day at work, to this amazing magazine, Heart and Humanity, that is growing nicely month by month. It's been heart-warming to watch as more and more people flock to us from broad and diverse backgrounds to share their voices.
I began writing to help myself. I started putting my words on the screen as a way to process my thoughts because I wasn't able to do it for myself properly. I would keep the tension in and blow up at my wife about something seemingly random when in reality it had been festering for a while.
This was a way to get what I was feeling out there. A way to say it, and let it go -- some things just need to be let go, you know? So thus, my very first blog on WordPress was born; it was emotional, it was angry, it was insightful, but most of all I found that there were people out there that were enjoying reading what I had to say, even when I'd put my ex-boss on the fire, or an ex-lover; they could relate and empathize with my point of view.
In April 2015 I was sadly let go from the job that had helped make who I am, me. I was desperately looking for something to fill that void it had left in its wake. See, my last job wasn't any old job; I helped people there.
I helped people win awards, I sat on committees, I steered organizations, I forged a way of life for myself that I had always wanted; the local fame meshed together with the selflessness of being of genuine use to others. I wanted to hold onto that for a very long time. I didn't want a redundancy getting in my way of progression.
I wasn't scared of redundancy this time, I welcomed it. Five years previous I was made redundant from my last job and I spent two years trying to make sense of what I wanted to do with myself -- this time I was certain. The internet was the way to go if I wanted to continue to reach people in the way that I have previously done.
My last place of work spoiled any future job for me; their management was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, it was the first place I had ever felt completely safe working for, that they had my back. In loyal return, I had their backs.
Armed with compassion, empathy and my ten fingers I began my first professional blog -- The Relationship Blogger; my aim was to connect to people through relationships, be that in friendship, business, or intimate romantic. Even a brief passing in the airport lounge as you exchange niceties with other people is a form of relationship, and I wanted to write about all of this. I wanted to help those that felt lost and disorientated to get the sense that you're not alone, there are people out there with similar experiences to you.
My first compassionate writing was rather preachy; I look back and cringe at some of my older work, yet another good writer has reminded me that it exists to remind me how far I have come as a writer in this short time. I was forever telling men that they should be doing x, y, and z, to have a healthier life, and the same with women. Women, you will benefit from a, b, and c, when in reality I was generalizing and being largely patronizing to all genders.
It helps, though, looking back, because I now understand the kinds of thinking that I should avoid. I also think this is emphasized with my autism.
I've now taken to revisiting my experiences, so that people can take away from my writing what they want, rather than me telling them what they should take away from it and them feeling bad if they don't. I try to create a completely open, optional and safe dialogue between the reader and I, that way they feel I'm talking with them, and not AT them, which can often feel demeaning and patronizing, as I've seen other bloggers do (and me!).
Last year as I began falling head first into abundance I started to realize that my opinion is but a pinprick in the Pacific Ocean of opinions, subjective viewpoints, and personal experiences, and, that I wanted to help more people. Not only budding authors having a platform on which to speak and earn, but with their audience that loves to read them -- that way The Relationship Blogger could become diverse, relatable to a wider audience and help demographics I would never reach on my own in a million years. This was never my goal, but I've reached hundreds of thousands with my writing so far, it's only realistic that we expand that.
In June 2018 we launched Heart and Humanity.
It was never my goal to manage a magazine with several staff and a team of writers; but here we are. All in the name of progress. And I'll admit, I couldn't be prouder, of my writers, of my staff, of me. The diverse array of voices that we have; it's already amazing.
So to me, Heart and Humanity is a collective. It's also individual. It's a way for people to spread their truth through words and reach others that can relate or be helped with their truths.
It's growth, it's progression. It's a hive of writers seeking out themselves and an audience growing with them.
It's one big pile of awesome wrapped up in a neat little website.
Come in and choose your passion.00
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://therelationshipblogger.com/from-the-publishers-desk-i-have-a-dream