Thank You!

First of all, THANK YOU for the response to my very first blog post.  So many of you took the time to comment in FB or send me a DM telling me you enjoyed reading it or that inspired you in some way…I was seriously so appreciative.  I couldn’t even log into social media for an entire day because I was afraid to put myself out there like that…but I am so grateful for your encouragement.

I’ve loved to write for as long as I can remember.  In first grade, we had to write a book for Miss Hendricks class.  Most six and seven year olds, as expected, threw a few illustrated pages together.  Mine was twenty or so, and it was a totally made-up story about going on a cruise with my family.  (I had never done ANYTHING like that in my real life.)  The book included detailed descriptions of what we wore and EXACTLY what we ate (shocking, I know…;) and I continued to play around with that little book for years after the homework was turned in.

I also liked to play Editor growing up.  I published a lot of “newspapers” as a kid using PrintMasterPlus on our Amiga computer and tried to sell them to neighbors for 10 cents each. 

I still have a lot of diaries that I kept through elementary and middle school.  These were mostly about anxieties and and boys and growing up, but even 10-year-old Melissa had an interest in articulating feelings that not everyone can find the words for.  It helps me process and cope.

So after a year with a LOT of feelings and a LOT of time to sit with them, it’s probably not surprising that I’m committing to putting them on “paper” and out into the world.  My goal is to write for 20-30 minutes on weekdays and publish something three times a week.  This means I’ll put a lot of crap out there, I’m sure, but I have to start somewhere, and volume = practice. 

So welcome to my writing journey!  They say you can find a lot of joy as an adult by “playing” the way you did as a kid…in essence, that’s what this is for me.  It will likely quickly become apparent that I was a total dork 😉 …but thank you for playing with me anyway!  And especially for commenting or sharing if you are compelled to do so.  If I’ve learned one thing since I was six, it’s that the world is actually FULL of dorks like me.  Thank you, internet, for introducing all of us to one another.