What if the camera wasn't on selfie mode?

Who am I?

I am a writer.

I bring a voice to the voiceless.

I shine a light on the darkness.

I bring hope to the hopeless.

Being a writer is massively frustrating, but beautifully rewarding.

It is incredibly vulnerable but incredibly necessary.

It is a seed planted, and one that never stops growing.

I’ve been a writer from a young age, and I hope that my words will impact many. I tell my stories to inspire someone else to tell theirs. I encourage others to borrow my belief until they can believe in themselves.

Who am I?

I am a writer.

What is the point of being a writer if I don’t get down and dirty? There are two sides to a writer: the truth and the surface. It is so easy to scrape the surface; writing about dull, everyday topics; but, the world needs vulnerability like it needs oxygen. We live in a world full of Instagram squares, and folks dancing on a reel. We get the highlight of their life, the put-together side: we get perfection. What we don’t see is what is on the other side; what would we see if the camera was turned off selfie mode? We would see the mess, the insecurities, and the burnout.

The world doesn’t want to showcase the failures, doing so opens the door to judgment. We get high off the comparison game: how can I do better? We aren’t meant to compete because what you’re doing and what someone else is doing doesn’t have to be connected. Stay in your own lane, and don’t get caught up in the highlights. If we peel the surface back I am certain the ugly would be revealed. The ugly is what everyone is trying to suppress.

Vulnerability is a two-way street. I can’t ask someone else to be vulnerable I am a closed door. We are born courageous and carefree, but life has a way of occasionally taking this away. As young children, we speak our minds, and we persevere no matter the circumstances: until one day we don’t. Real-life happens, the ugly shows its face. Life will wrap its sometimes gnarly fingers around you, and rip the courage right out of you. What matters though: is our comeback. Life can bring us to our knees because we live in a world where hurt and heartbreak exist, but what matters is getting back up. We live in a world where grief, depression, anxiety, or fear all find a way to creep into our lives from time to time. When these are experienced, we are taught a valuable lesson. It brings us back to where we started: having courage. It is necessary to turn the camera around because the world needs vulnerability like it needs oxygen. It is necessary to turn the camera around because living with grief, depression, anxiety or crippling fear doesn’t have to be a solo act. We preach unity in mental health: let us bring truth to this statement.

As a writer, it is my job to tell stories that no one else will. It is my job to bring a voice to the voiceless. I shine a light down the dark path that people follow so they don’t have to feel alone. I bring silent companionship because when they can’t speak I will write. As a writer I dust off the untold truths; I share my words so someone else doesn’t have to.

It takes courage to be a writer. It is an act of solitude until you share it with the world. It creates a giant spotlight on the real you: the raw. It takes strength and perseverance, but most of all it takes belief. A writer has to believe that their words hold meaning, and somewhere, someone will read them and feel relief. It only takes one person to create a ripple. If I share my truth, will you share yours?

Who am I?

I am a writer.