Is Writing On Medium A Mid-Life Crisis?
What compels us to pour out our inner thoughts?
What motivates you to write on Medium or elsewhere?
This question has been rumbling around my head for a few days after I read a quote from Joss Whedon:
“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of.”
Not having ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which he wrote) I wasn’t familiar with him, but the thought stayed with me. Why do I write?
How long is a piece of string?
A little research reveals there is no shortage of suggestions or motivations for what drives us to capture and share our thoughts with anyone willing to take a read.
One list which caught my eye includes the following possibilities:
- Enjoyment
- To influence people or change the world
- Because you love a topic
- Money
- To heal
- To help others
- To use your creativity
- Recognition and respect
- Fame
- You crave solitude
- To answer a calling
- Revenge
How many of these tick a box for you?
On the surface, I can put my hand up to several — although revenge and fame wouldn’t make my list!
There is no doubt I enjoy writing, like to be creative and hope to influence or inform people on issues that matter to me. But when searching for a definitive motivation, this still didn’t quite answer my question.
Is writing on Medium my mid-life crisis?
Let’s return to Joss Whedon’s quote.
“I write to give myself strength.
I write to be the characters that I am not.
I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of.”
The more I thought about this, the more I wondered whether my recent surge of motivation was a sign of me reaching my mid-life crisis?
But how is this state of mind defined?
A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 45 to 65 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person’s growing age, inevitable mortality, and possibly lack of accomplishments in life. This may produce feelings of intense depression, remorse, and high levels of anxiety, or the desire to achieve youthfulness or make drastic changes to their current lifestyle or feel the wish to change past decisions and events.
Not very cheery!
I fit the age demographic, having turned 48 last month. But I don’t think I’m looking to achieve lost youthfulness. Sure, I’m going grey and bald and I could do with shedding a few pounds. But I’ve not resorted to dying my locks, considering a hair transplant, or employing the Bobby Charlton comb-over, so I don’t think it’s that.
I also haven’t bought a flash sports car or a Harley Davidson to imply enhanced virility along with a younger girlfriend, so it’s not that either.
OK, I’m being a little flippant, but there is something in this description that resonates with me:
“The wish to change past decisions and events.”
Being older and bolder
I don’t regret the decisions I’ve taken in my life, even though some of them have been painful.
What I understand now is that writing is a means to correct the cautiousness I had as a child, or put another way:
“I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of.”
A mix of my upbringing and a natural disposition for caution led me to shy away from taking a stand, speaking up when I disagreed, and caring too much about what others thought of me. I’m not sure I’ve still mastered the last one, but I’m working on it!
There’s no question — at least for me — that greater confidence comes with maturity, but writing gives us all an outlet to confront the things on our mind. It may be something that scares you or you feel a passion for. I have become politically active in the last year — something I never thought I’d do. And now I’m writing about it on Medium too and presenting and defending my views.
You don’t have to agree with me, or even like what I say, but I’m exploring what matters to me and what keeps me up at night.
Does turning to write make it a mid-life crisis or one of life’s turning points?
Perhaps, and if it does, then bring it on. It might be uncomfortable and scare me to question my past decisions. But I’m embracing it.
I don’t want to regret turning away from challenges or confronting important issues because they were a little scary. I understand I have a need for my voice to be heard, not from an arrogant standpoint I hope, but to say — or rather write — the things I want to share and discuss.
So, consider your motivation for writing, and then:
- Confront it.
- Embrace it.
- Respond to it.
Your voice is as important as mine and anyone else’s. And besides, you don’t know the positive places it may yet take you.
If you enjoyed my article, here are a few more from me that hopefully catch your interest!
