It’s the first week of 2020, so of course I am feeling at once overwhelmed and refreshed. Thinking about possibilities while also trying to catch up (at least with work).
It’s been a good opportunity for me to think about what I want to do and what I don’t want to do, this year, and in the coming years. One thing that I learned about myself in the past year is that I have really missed my own personal writing more than I ever imagined.
I did a bit of culture writing for publication in 2019 that I was incredibly proud of, and I started journaling regularly again, and I realized that was more satisfying that about 99% of the time I spent writing threads on Twitter. (I guess anyone could have predicted that but I guess I needed the reminder.) So, with a bit of inspiration from friends, I made the commitment to write more, whether it was for myself, for publication, for performance, I didn’t really care what it was for. And to be honest, my favorite writing in the past decades of my writing life and career have the writing that I’ve done for myself. It sounds a bit narcissistic to say that some of my most cherished writing is my most selfish writing, but I do social media for money so I guess it’s just who I am.
Anyway, I’ve had a few years of not really focusing on my own writing, after years of doing The Learned Fangirl and freelancing, and then moving into full-time, very demanding social justice communications work, there’s just never been the appropriate time or brain-space for me. But I’ve been feeling the pull lately, especially as life online feels more noisy than ever, to carve out a space to refine my own changing – changed – voice and connect with the joy and community that writing provided me in the first place. I’m taking some classes at StoryStudio Chicago to help get my mojo back and I’m doing some outside stuff (that I’ll be sharing really soon) that I’m excited about.
I also have an essay being published in a book about chronic illness, called The Things We Don’t Say: An Anthology of Chronic Illness Truths, that along with my culture writing feels like the next step in my evolution into…whatever kind of writing I want to do next.
So… anyway, things feel fresh and fun for the first time in a long while, so if you don’t see me loitering on Twitter or FB, just look for me here, because I’d like to get more active here again. (On a similar note, I decided to move my posts on disability from the (S)lightly Disabled blog back to here. For some reason it feels more comfortable for me to keep posting here. Soooo, Happy New Year. Here’s to more creative and fulfilling times.
Keidra Chaney 