Here’s an early week post for you that goes over why I started my blog. I figured it was a timely post, since I just did an “About” page overhaul, which you can check out here.
During my high school years, I was told that I was a good writer. I remember my tenth grade English teacher in Jamaica pretty much begging me to let her submit one of my creative writing homework assignments to the school yearbook. I was horrified at the thought of the entire student body reading the words that I had strung together the night before on the floor of my grandmother’s living room, but since I adored my English teacher, I gave in and allowed the submission.
A few months later, once the yearbook was released, my history teacher (a very short, very feisty woman) pretty much strong-armed me into an empty classroom from the walkway to accost me for not telling her that I was a good writer. I looked down at her, incredibly confused (and terrified, because this petite woman was ironically formidable and I was always finding myself in trouble with her). She then explained that she had found my short story in the yearbook, and that at the end of it she had turned the page, thirsty for more, and was saddened to find that it was over. I was beyond flattered!
All along the way, there was a person here or there encouraging me to write, including members of my own family. I always shrugged them off, since I was never so sure of what they saw in my writing (the grand majority of what they read were just homework assignments, since I did not write for fun back then), and I couldn’t imagine myself growing up to live the starving artist lifestyle of so many professional writers.
Then, fast forward to my early career days (which I’m still currently in), where I spent most of my work day performing analyses, filling out paperwork, and staring at ledgers, to then go home at the end of a long day and study for really intense finance exams. Not exactly the creative individual’s dream lifestyle. Sure, I had hobbies and spent time outdoors and with friends, but there was always that niggling in the back of my head that I needed to focus more on the act of creating.
I understood then that though my logical bits functioned well, I still needed to exercise my artistic parts as well, since they were feeling left out. I started to think back on all those times when people had suggested I become a writer, and at some point I realized that in order to be one, I don’t need to make writing my full-time job. All I have to do to be a writer is, well, to write!
So I started this blog to casually exercise my artistic muscle, without feeling pressured to earn a living through my writing, or to do anything more than just write for fun. I could write as often or as infrequently as I wanted, without any pressure of doing it well, or saying the right thing. I figured that if I had a few friends and family members who wanted to see what I was up to, I could just write about it and then share this blog with them.
However, as I write more and more on these pages, I realize that I have a specific message that I want to get out there. The name of my blog, Cinnamon Spiced Life, holds meaning for me. I often find myself reassuring people about situations in their own lives, and helping them to find the good in them, or at least something to look forward to. I think it’s important to count your blessings, lest you run the risk of drowning in a sea of what you consider to be your misfortunes. It’s so easy to get tangled up in the chaos and complications of life, so I want my blog to be a sort of refuge – a place for readers to come and be rejuvenated before they get back out there and take their lives head on again.
If you’re reading, I hope you will find my posts refreshing. If you want more detail on what my blog’s name means, and what I usually write about, please check out my new About page.
