Tag / anxiety

by Nathan Coumbe

Why write?

Why would anyone start a blog in 2020 (or in my case, 2019)?

Nobody wants to read anymore; no one has the attention span to read anything more than headlines, bullet points, and headers.

If we want information, a lesson, or an explanation of an idea, we just go to YouTube. If we want entertainment, we go to Tik Tok for quick, random snippets or Twitter for messages. No more than 140 characters, thank you very much!

So why write?

For me, it’s to stretch a muscle. It isn’t to get someone to buy something; it isn’t to persuade the entire world to change how it operates. Writing helps me organize my thoughts. It allows me to practice putting messages and ideas into the world in a coherent form; it allows me to argue points and prove or disprove my ideas with my own gathered evidence.

“Writing is organized thinking on behalf of persuasion.”

–Seth Godin, “Even if it’s not graduation week for you…”

Perhaps I’m trying to persuade myself.

So this blog I write, or try to write, everyday – what’s it for? It’s for me to learn, practice, stretch, organize, and try and make sense of the world.

If it helps you, too, I am thrilled.

You should write something.

Maybe writing isn’t for you, but it is a uniquely human endowment, and I advise you try it. However, be clear on why you are writing. Don’t write to get people to read; don’t write to get a following; don’t write to get money. Write for yourself, at least at first.

Write to examine your thoughts. Write to examine what you are learning and check your understanding. Write to get the massed jumble of ideas out of your head and into a physical form – you’d be amazed how much anxiety that relieves. Write to try and persuade one person that your idea might help them get better.

It doesn’t have to be good; it just needs to be done. And the more you do it, the better it will get.

Write something.

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by Nathan Coumbe

You are doing just fine. Relax.

We are constantly getting caught up – in what we don’t have, haven’t accomplished, how far we have to go, what we need to be doing next to get where we think we want to go.

It’s exhausting.

It’s also very frustrating and discouraging if you are not careful. When you find yourself getting caught up in all the stuff bouncing around your head, it helps to take a step back and look at things from a bird’s-eye view.

View your life on a timeline. I will illustrate with my own:

15 years ago, I was beginning one of the darkest periods of my life: bad relationships, growing up way too fast because my home life was falling apart, deep depression, severe anxiety – these were just a few of the treats I unknowingly had in my future.

10 years ago, I was just beginning college with an idea of what I wanted to do with my life – an idea that changed almost a dozen times in five years.

5 years ago, I was finishing my senior year of college. After graduation, I took a job making money that had me living below the poverty line in Mississippi. I was making about half of what I spent on my college education.

In the last five years, I graduated, got married, worked in five distinctly separate fields, got promoted three times, was actively recruited by a company because of skills I developed outside of college, and more than doubled my income.

It’s easy to get stuck on how far you have to go and all the things you haven’t yet accomplished. Don’t forget to look back and see how far you’ve come. The perspective will instantly change how you feel.

Relax. You’re doing just fine.

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