It's How YOU Tell It.

Since I posted on IG stories that I want to pursue my writing skills and goals, I thought this topic would be the most apropos, so I hope you enjoy.

As I was finishing up my last blog post, I was really feeling it - the flow, the clarity and how my personality came through - I'm thinking "this is good stuff". It then occurs to me, that maybe lots of people have had similar, if not the exact same, thoughts and it's all already out there and anybody whose ever been interested in the topic has read it already.

I hesitate...

...and then I hit publish anyway. For the rest of that night, and the next couple of days, however, I am plagued with the doubt that anyone will find what I have to say new, refreshing or relevant - "Yeah, thanks for telling us water is wet. The world really needed that." or even more soul-crushingly, they'll think my writing is amateurish. Granted, that latter worry was mostly moot because I hadn't promoted this blog until the past week or so, but there worry was.

While my mind wrestled (yes, I said "wrestled") with the fact that my unpromoted post would not resonate with anyone, I watched a Shameless Maya IGTV, where she spoke about reflecting on her past and the past version of herself. She spoke about how behaviour and decisions based on past traumas were still stumbling her efforts to move forward. She outlined that she planned to let go in gratitude and ground herself in her new circumstances, beliefs and habits.

At the end of the video, I felt I knew exactly where she was coming from. I also thought that she and I were not the first, nor would we be the last, to feel this way about our journeys, our growth and hopes for moving forward. Yet she turned her personal revelation into content that I lapped up, sat still for and felt validated by.

So ultimately, I think we will all tell "water is wet" stories. The difference is the story-teller and their story-telling style. If you think about your favourite content creators, how would you describe their style of video? Do you notice a lot of similarities? If there's a diversity of style, think about the subject being discussed, it'll reflect how you feel about that subject. All this to say that there are many ways to package the fact that water is wet and I've come up with two tips when trying to tell a story uniquely:

1. - Being Self-Aware and tuning in deeply with yourself to catch thoughts and feelings that can be further fleshed out. Turning the spotlight on to your thought patterns, rationalisations and perceptions is great fodder for producing questions and statements framed in a way that can belong only to you. When you see that deep question or random thought flashing by in your mind, make time to jot it down knowing that you can explore it further - which leads to further growth and change in perspective. (N.B: Self-awareness is something you might see a lot on my blog because I genuinely believe it is the greatest skill one can cultivate.)

2. - Talking it out with a friend or by yourself (I don't judge) may help to more easily draw those thoughts out. Use that friend that you feel comfortable rambling to while revealing your innermost self, to bounce ideas off of. You can do the same thing by yourself and note what jumps out to you. You could even record yourself if you prefer not to interrupt your flow with writing. Or you could do the opposite and journal, often and stream-of-consciousness style. Allowing your mind to work unfiltered is the goal.

In any event, your aim is to catch those suckers and write the thoughts and revelations down. From there it's about delivering to others, the best way you can. For that, you'll use YOUR voice, one that has been shaped by your unique circumstances and perspective. No, there is nothing original under the sun, except every single human upon the earth and that's the loophole. Tell the story but the way you tell it. Get it? Think of it as your own secret sauce on any topic.

So now I've given you a version of the same advice that Marie Forleo gives, that Erin On Demand gives and that every other content creator with the title 'Is It Too Late to start _______?' gives. I've also told you how I pulled myself out of the spiral of doubt that had me wanting to backtrack on posting.

But I as I persevere and commit to regular uploads, perhaps the information shared will resonate with you in a way it never has before because you've never seen it put quite this way. The way I say it.

Me gloriously telling the story of how water makes other things wet as well.