Own It. Wear It.

Last Monday, I checked out a new writers group that I’ve been thinking about joining. Poets and playwrights, true crime tale spinners, and authors of historical fiction came prepared with copies of recent efforts.

Throughout the two hours I spent as a visitor, I listened to each writer read his (or her) material out loud. But I had problems concentrating. I couldn’t keep from staring at one member’s sweatshirt. It read:

Careful, or you'll end up in my novel.

Ha. That’s a good one, I thought. I like to think of intelligent, insightful people, instead of athletic or fashionable types, getting the last laugh. I like the idea of a simple but witty scribe holding this kind of power. Yes, I concluded, the saying on this shirt was referring to someone like me.  

I also liked the idea that Barry (the man making a personal and fashion statement) was willing to tell people he was a writer. He was willing to declare himself a wordsmith and willing to wear the self-ascribed label in public.

Am I ready to own what’s important to me? To declare it? To wear it?

After smiling inwardly at Barry’s chutzpah for wearing his writerly interests on his chest, I scanned the Internet for other catchy tee shirt sayings that might speak for me and what’s important to me. I actually saw one that read, No one cares about your blog. The idea that there would actually be a tee shirt marketed with this sentiment made me laugh for a moment. It’s funny when something or someone says what other people might be thinking but are afraid to say out loud. Then I stopped to ponder my own efforts on this evolving journal of appreciation and gratitude.

  

I started writing essays about little things I felt grateful for about three years ago. This writing practice has become an important part of my life. As I reflected on the sources of gratitude and joy for me, I developed a greater capacity to see little things within the moments of my life that brought me more happiness. In other words, having an attitude of gratitude writing practice has made me happier.  

So I have to ask myself, Why don’t I just keep a journal? Why do I need to post my thoughts on the Internet? Am I writing for me, or am I writing for someone else?

I think the answer is both. I write because it helps me understand my own thinking more clearly.  Writing has always been a great way for me to understand myself and make choices that are aligned with what I value.

But I am writing for others too. I put time into cleaning up each entry and making sure personal material would make sense to someone else. I keep this blog because I want to provide actual examples of how I trace a brief awareness back to a core understanding of what it is in an experience that gives me joy and stirs feelings of gratitude so that others may be encouraged to practice similar kinds of mindfulness in their lives.

I don’t know that I’ll get a tee shirt made that says Read my blog in large block letters, but I am not ashamed to tell people to check out No Small Thing. I am ready to declare that I have something of value to share.

Being able to own who you are and what you have to give is no small thing