Be Very Different?

There’s this huge chunk of my core that craves only to be a writer. To spend every waking moment in front of a computer or typewriter and caress the keys in such a way that they sing out these wonderful, prophetic thoughts. But I can’t seem to ignore the other, smaller, part of my core that screams at the top of its lungs “haven’t you read the self-indulgent crap all over the Internet; writers are full of crap.”

Of course, there is another obstacle that prevents me from being a writer full-time; I have these amazing kids and an incredible wife. They need me; I’m the only one who makes an income… I can’t say “work” because I don’t work nearly as hard as my wife does. And writing what I want to write everyday certainly wouldn’t pay the bills that need to be paid today. But I do write everyday. I write marketing copy for the company I work for in between writing proposals to clients and prospects, outlining how we will save them money and solve their problems. The writing I get to do is challenging, but it’s not even in the same ballpark as the type of writing that could ever be satisfying to one’s soul.

And then there are the over-commitments. Whether it be a non-profit organization that needs a grant written to obtain funding for some righteous cause, or a group focused on a social issue that needs messaging crafted that will inspire donations and actions, I can’t turn away.

So, sprinkled between the obligations I have to my family, and the over-commitments I make to other people, I find these little fifteen-minute blocks to write what I want. Sometimes I’m lucky and I’ll find two or three blocks in a day. But more likely, I go a week or two without being able to carve out any time.

So what does this have to do with being very different? I have no clue… it just seemed like a phrase that described the world today. The writers that all try to be something else; the politicians that claim they are something new; the companies that say they are the new paradigm. And don’t think it’s lost on me… you know what I mean. How can you be “very” different? An unnecessary adjective wedged into a place where it doesn’t add any value. A word that, at first glance, adds value but upon further reflection is only a thinly veiled way to increase the word count of a copy.

And since I’ve written anonymously (and under multiple nom de plumes) for the past twenty years, I just decided it was time to write under my own name, with my own thoughts, showing what I can do in little fifteen-minute blocks. There’s no deep meaning here; no overall message that I want to impart on the world. Just a chance to type what I want for a brief moment, whenever I find the time.

Feel free to critique or comment… or ignore. And most importantly, don’t forget to…

- Kevin