Let’s make the promise before the year ends.
When the year 2020 started, back when we had no idea just how differently this new decade was going to start, I was ready to embark on a journey that would lead me to write more. While I expected that journey to involve more adventures and those adventures experienced without masks, I managed to keep true to my intentions and significantly boost my amount of writing (and reading) throughout the year.
I shouldn’t perhaps put reading in parenthesis, because through this pursuit I learned that reading truly sparks the mind. As I write now and regale you with my anecdotal tale, I can’t help but realize that whatever success I have achieved this year in the literary realm, I owe to my active pursuit of reading; from books to medium articles. Reading beckons me to write, and I imagine it is so for many as well. The way I see it, the reader and writing organically engage in a conversation that, although many are content with the information and keep to themselves their analysis, many others are bursting with new inspiration and thoughts that need to be expressed in some way. I am one of those folk.
But here is where I must put a stop to my self congratulation because I truly did less than I expected to. And therefore, without being overtly self-critical, it is my own decision to begin a new journey as the year dawns. I shall aim to write and publish every day. Do I promise masterpieces that shake the very foundation of humanity? I certainly wish I could, but in reality, it will be an exercise of expression that will revolve around my career, pursuits and creative aspirations.
I had coined 2020 as the “Year of Adventure” in my personal journals. I bought concert tickets, planned trips and prepared for an unforgettable year. The reality was that it was the “Year of Self-Analysis”. A year to understand the world and its complexities, understand how I personally wish to engage with those complexities, and clarify what are my true priorities and desires in life. I did a lot of self-branding exercises, lots of mind maps, and had multiple sleepless nights of thinking these sort of things in convoluted and magnificent ways alike. I have learned so much of myself and my partner, and what we truly want out of life — and the more I read and wrote, the more I felt I could deal with the immensity of detailing the answers to those questions.
It is on this never ending journey that is self discovery and purpose alignment that I realized that writing is at the core of my progress. The exercise of organizing your thoughts and using common language to create mental visuals with cleverly organized words brings clarity and purpose of thought. It is my hope that my writing of stories, observations and anecdotes serve as a portal to a different realm. A point of connection with another human being who took a different path and explored different things. Lastly, I truly, with all my heart hope that the journey is as fun for you as it will undoubtedly be for me.
With love,
Ade
