Every once in a while I’ll get a wild hair and do something new. This must be one of those times.
I am not one for cringe humor and find my own writing from the past to be one of the most cringe inducing things out there. the idea of putting that out into the public seems like the craziest thing I can think of. I’ve lost count of how many journals I’ve started only to find them years later never completed. I’ll read through a couple of pages before ripping out every page and throwing the whole thing in the recycling.
So really why am I doing this?
Because I have a lot to say. I may be an introvert but that doesn’t mean my mind isn’t constantly going. I am opinionated. Most people would say I was forceful. They don’t realize how much I edit myself. I make this space. I pay for this domain and I maintain the site. I am not forcing anyone to come here and share this space. But I am inviting anyone who wants to be here.
All of that is not to say I intend to be offensive. It is my hope that my most upsetting opinions “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I have been the afflicted comfortable person on more than one occasion. I am sure I will be on countless more and I know that I am better for each of those moments.
Here I am: difficult, opinionated, kind, silly, passionate. Me.
Some many places and spaces demand a curated an partial self. The work self, the parent self, the mentor self, self with this group and that group. A mask for every occasion. At the end of the day it can be hard to remember who the person underneath it all is. I want to stop living in that fractured way.
My hope is that by sharing this way I can feel more wholehearted and encourage others to be more fully themselves as well. I hope you will join me on this journey.
Alie Henry 