At least a couple of times a day, something makes me stop and think to myself, “I should write about that.” That happens to every blogger, right? What I’m not so sure about is how many of us forget those inspirations long before words en up on a screen.
I have four (yes, four) different notebooks with which to record sundry ideas as I pass through the day. I have a fancy smartphone with a memo section and an email thingy and I think I can even get a to-do list for it. Hell, if I have time to read the blogging inspiration, I probably have another few minutes to at least outline the damn post. Yet I never do, and then night comes and I have to struggle to throw an idea together or seek out an artificial prompt.
Some of that comes from my desire to keep certain things in certain places. I’m not sure what difference it makes, but while I’ll spend a few stolen minutes here and there to read, I’ve never written a blog entry at work. I also have this constantly overblown faith in my own memory. “That’s brilliant, there’s no way I could forget that!” is always followed by “now what was I supposed to remember again?” Usually within five minutes. I forget more stuff by 9 am than most people do all day. That’s why I try to sleep in until 10.
Maybe I’m self-censoring too. I don’t like most of my writing even though I think it’s important for me to actually do the writing. Since I’m unwilling to invest in myself, I probably wouldn’t bother to write at all without the possibility of an audience. The only reason any of this is here is because I made some sort of commitment to myself to really try at this post-a-day challenge thing even though I’m usually left uneasy and disappointed when I’m finished.
Am I better or worse off for not posting most of the things I think about? What about everyone else? What’s to be had from a cacophony of self-published voices besides dischord and a headache? Maybe it’s the same thing as a grade school orchestra recital: we go through them because everyone deserves to try, and maybe, just maybe, there’s one player who can hit the right note.