Last weekend something happened that surprised me a bit.
If you’ve been following the blog thus far this year, you may know that in preparing these weekly posts I like to, in theory, write throughout the week so I don’t have too much to pull together Friday evening or Saturday morning before publishing.
Often, and usually because I didn’t follow through on things, it still comes down to Friday or even Saturday morning till I get any writing for that weeks blog post done. I usually complain a little bit about it, but proceed to publish whatever it is I come up with, even if at times it is a bit under baked.
Well late last week I still wasn’t sure what I was writing about, I had a couple of ideas, but nothing that seemed super great, so it wasn’t till late Friday evening that I started writing a bit around the fact that, at times, I really want to quit things. The decision to “quit something” or “keep on” can be pretty complicated. In a nut shell that is all I was trying to say in last weeks post.
After writing a few ideas down Friday evening, I got up a bit early Saturday morning because I was planning to go turkey hunting with my brother, but, because it was raining pretty heavily when we first got up, we decided not to go chase birds. Instead I had about an hour to pull the post together and try to get it published before I needed to move on to other things.
So… what’s strange in all of this?
It Was Really Under Baked
The simple truth of the matter is, I didn’t spend much time fine tuning and trying to craft the post last week. I mostly vomited words on to the screen and read through it a few times cleaning up obvious grammatical errors.
Especially with something that is as important a concept as “quitting” and “when should I quit” I was hesitant to hit publish without spending more time with it to make sure I had said everything right.
The post, as it went out, was definitely not as refined as I would have liked for it to have been.
I was actually pretty tempted to skip last weeks post.
I Didn’t Feel Like I Said Much
Not only was the post shorter than most that I’ve shared thus far this year, it was also all built around a singular and pretty simple concept. As I read over it before pressing the publish button I felt like I had only scratched the surface of the issue.
The post just didn’t say much. It was more of a “this is how I feel some times” kind of post. It didn’t try to take a side on the issue or make a huge point. It is basically just an overview of my “feelings.”
So, Why Are We Talking About This?
Here is what surprised me… I received more feedback on that post than any post I’ve written in a very long while. Everything from people encouraging me to “keep on going” to adding their own thoughts to mix.
Why was I surprised? Mostly because I hadn’t spent nearly as much time as normal on the post, but it seems to have struck a bit of a nerve with folks. People seemed to resonate with it at least a little bit.
Conclusion
I don’t just write and publish things here because I think its good for me to have a consistent practice of writing. It is my desire that other people would read the words I write and be provoked to thought, or encouraged, or even spurred to action. So receiving some feedback and noting that people had some kind of reaction to what I had written was interesting. 🙂
Am I saying that we shouldn’t put forth a great effort when communicating whatever it is we’re trying to communicate? No, but I am saying that honest words combined with a bit of vulnerability can connect with people better than fluffier, completely refined words from a less honest or less vulnerable place. Maybe instead of waiting till you have everything figured out and perfectly worded, go ahead and start the conversation with what you do have.
The other thing that I’m taking away from this little experience last week is that starting with a specific concept, and sticking pretty closely to that singular thought or idea throughout, just might make it easier for the reader to latch on to and understand what you’re trying to say.
Did I save the world with last weeks post? Absolutely not. I was mostly just surprised by the feedback that I heard on several fronts. I’m just reminding myself that even though I do not have everything figured out, sharing from a place of some vulnerability can be helpful to others and also to myself.
Have a great week my friend!
P.S. You can find last weeks video right here.