Will You Write When You Feel Blue?

Being real is the best value we can offer to our readers

If you need to express your sadness, don’t hold back. Just do it. If you want to reveal your despair, don’t fear. Just do it. If you care to share your struggles, do it like it is no one’s business. Although, they try and they judge, No one has permission to tell you what to think and what to feel.

If you feel blue, just feel blue even if this may annoy happy people. If you feel happy, just feel happy even if this may annoy sad people. If you need to express joy, don’t hold back. Just do it. If you want to celebrate yourself, don’t apologize. Just do it. Although they react and they judge, No one has permission to tell you what to express and what to hide.

“If you’ve never eaten while crying you don’t know what life tastes like.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Recently I’ve come across a writer who boldly expressed her sadness and despair in a short essay. She simply expressed what she was feeling without making any particular statements and conclusions. She wasn’t giving or asking for advice. I was touched by her honesty and courage to express her feelings as they were.

When I clicked to leave a comment, I was surprised by comments that can be translated as “Don’t be a downer.” This disturbed me. I imagined this writer just wanted someone to say, “I hear you or I feel that way too.” This incident nagged at me for a while.

Often we are afraid to express our less-than-perfect thoughts and feelings. We feel pressured to express only positivity, less we fail to offer anything of value to our readers. We are afraid we may come across as being either too pessimistic or too optimistic. We are afraid of saying too much or too little. Too this, too that. But oftentimes being real can be the best value we can offer to others.

On this platform alone, I’ve read all kinds of writing advice: don’t use Medium as your diary, don’t share your random thoughts, don’t write for yourself, don’t do this and don’t do that, yada yada yada.

“Don’t write to fit into any mold” is the most empowering advice I’ve received. I remind myself to just write from the heart, lean into both pain and joy, express only what I care to express, and chronicle my journey as best as I could without embellishing.

I grew up being afraid of expressing my feelings in words as no one around me in my cutlure encouraged it. I am still learning to open up and I find this to be incredibly challenging. It is a long-long journey. But I am committed to walk it as long as it takes.

Thanks for listening and reading.