My Path to Medium

Long, Slow and Arduous

I was “supposed” to be a writer all my life. In a way, I was. In the same way, I was not. In my previous agency role, I was in charge of developing editorial while managing overall quality control for a significant volume of corporate copy for clients over the last 15 years. This was not the writing I had in mind when I secured a Master’s in journalism, but I chose the corporate path to intentionally avoid drowning in the shifting digital tides.

I sat on my pen for many, many years — convinced it was because I spent all day reading and writing emails, editing drafts, mentally exhausted when the day ended, which was usually a late moving target. Some of that is true. The other part of the story is that my jobs were unmanageable, and I allowed them to cannibalize my life. Hours outside the office were consumed by my poisonous consumption of whatever intoxicant I could get my hands on…which made a mess of my mind, stifled my wit, and dulled my tongue.

Beneath all the reasons, the self-deception, and the false starts, the truth is I was scared. I had grown used to having a vice constricting my creativity. My patch of mud was comfortable, and I was fearful of failure.

Today I have no excuses. I jettisoned the job in favor of a new beginning. I killed the cocktails out of care for my health. My personal commitments have shriveled up in the time of corona.

So, I set myself free 18 days ago when I joined Medium. I have loved expressing myself and can’t get enough. I have written with increasing pace and purpose. Last week my obsession may have gotten the better of me. I plan to keep it in check, but I have so many perspectives to share in our collective narrative that it’s currently hard to slow down.

Check out some more of my work if you’re curious:

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