Responsibility and Accountability: Sharing Wisdom
How My As-Yet Undiscovered Writing Journey Keeps My Spirits High
Medium is teaching me to be a more authentic and engaging writer
Now that I’ve been writing on Medium for three months, I can step back and review this experiment of putting my work out into the world through writing. It hasn’t been a big hit, but it is what I expected, given that I’m a newbie to the online writing world.
My somewhat twisted writing life has been sprouting for twenty years. It has evolved as a non-linear, winding, and chaotic approach to writing down my life because my priorities were family and work.
Entangling My Jungle of Knowledge
Over decades I’ve collected an extensive archive of works scattered throughout my hard drives, tucked away in books on my bookshelf, written on notepads, in personal journals, and strewn about in file folders. My “now” goal is to sort through this jungle of jumbled knowledge and sift out buried treasures from the undergrowth.
I am massaging and marinating this treasure chest of knowledge until it finds form in the creative writing process. Medium gave me this first writing outlet. Erik Erikson, a famous psychoanalyst, inspired me with the phrase, “I am what survives me.”
The first twenty stories appeared disorganized. They draw upon my multifaceted knowledge and experiences that give form to my life and successes. In these initial twenty writings, I have yet to make the connections clear to the reader, but then again, gaining 64 followers is far short of the 100 followers Medium requires for entry into the PPP (Paid Partner Program).
I have yet to explore the multitude of online and social media outlets for marketing my work. There is still much work ahead, and I’ll get to it; right now, I’m focusing on authentic and engaging content.
Live to Matter Mantra
A core concept holds everything in my life together — my mantra, “Live to Matter.” It is my guiding principle. Repeating it creates a positive mental state for me and reminds me of my life’s mission.
Here is an early source of an anonymous verse that inspired me to create my mantra.
When it’s all over to be able to say,
I worked at what I enjoyed.
I did the very best I could.
I contributed to the team effort.
I helped my fellow man.
I learned the true meaning of love.
I helped make the world a better place to live.
I MADE A DIFFERENCE!
Organizing the Treasure Chest
I’m going to take what I’ve lived and what I’ve read and organize it into three broad domains: Mind Mastery, Personal Development, and Responsibility and Accountability.
From now on, I will use the Kicker above the title to organize my writing. This will show the reader the domain I am writing in.
I have professional and real-life experience that includes topics such as specialized business knowledge, financial intelligence, self-care for health and well-being, and the many facets of personal development, including values and goals, productivity, and leadership, to name a few.
This trinity of domains has co-existed in my universe for decades, balancing my life and helping me get where I wanted to be. Was there a formula? Was it just good fortune? I think not. Maybe both? I’ll figure it out as I write.
As my writing improves, I will get better at connecting the trinity of domains and the diverse topics that give purpose to my life’s journey and my writing.
Since joining Medium, I have read a lot of stories from new writers and stories from pros. I’ve studied from the pros, and they’ve shown me what real writing is — finding my voice and making the story engaging.
Summary
As I write, I get better. I figured out how to organize my writing. I am closer to finding my authentic voice and writing engaging content. I thank the Medium writers for these lessons.
Erikson reminds us that “biology flows downhill.” We absorb a great deal from previous generations. We are, therefore, responsible for passing as much as we can to future generations.
I have absorbed much from my business endeavors, school, books, the internet, and chatting with people.
There is no time to be discouraged or in low spirits.
I have a bunch to share.
