Everyone needs a little place to call their own. A sanctuary. Somewhere to rest and let their hair down to be themselves.

To me, that’s been this blog here on WordPress. My corner of the internet where I get to simply be. Others have a Youtube channel, a Medium publication, a WordPress of their own. 

You could argue, “What’s the point? Why can’t you be yourself in private? Why let your hair down on any of these public-facing channels for all the world to see?”

Great question and you have a point. 

It’s about expressing yourself. Letting yourself be seen. Occupying space beyond your mind, outside your private journal.

Because once you do let yourself be seen, it gives others permission to be seen too. To come out in full force as themselves. 

By being your whole authentic self and living your truth to its full potential, you inadvertently allow others to do the same. 

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Lately, I get caught up in overthinking what to write and who to write it for.

I wonder what my audience would want to read from me and whether I can provide it.

WordPress has been my sweet escape from that world. Everyone deserves a chance to write for themselves. To exist for the sake of existing. 

As I’ve transitioned away from the grind of my old 9-to-5, the one I quit almost a whole year ago, I question whether I’ve traded it in for a new type of grind. One in which I feel compelled to continuously pump out content for the beast that is Medium. 

Medium, a blogging and writing platform, used to be a place where I could write whenever and whatever I wanted. These days, it’s like feeding an insatiable monster constantly hungry for more.

Medium writers and Youtube creators know what I mean. 

These platforms reward creators who are on a consistent schedule, demanding an onslaught of content before revealing even a sliver of value back to creators. 

People create for the love of creating, so when we start relying on these platforms for our income streams, it turns into a different relationship. The type where creators are being exploited so the platforms get to benefit. 

Youtube and Medium are tech companies. Youtube swallows up revenue from ads. Medium incentivizes writers to convert readers into becoming paid members. That’s how writers make money – off of the reading time of paid members.

The longer we creators can keep readers’ and viewers’ attention, the better it is for the tech companies’ bottom line. 

People create for the love of creating, so when we start relying on these platforms for our income streams, it turns into a different relationship.

Before we know it, creators are well on their way to becoming burned out from all the content we need to produce to stay afloat in the algorithm.

Or to stay “relevant,” so they say. 

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Yes, I’m complaining. I’m also laying it bare. Telling it how it is. 

Everyone who’s made it as a “Top Writer” or as someone who’s made a living off of Medium has had to pump out content, whether they felt like it or not. 

Youtube creators, for the most part, have had to consistently shoot, produce, and edit videos for a while with little to no gains before their channel blew up.

And that’s the difference between the whiners and those who eventually make it. 

It takes consistency, guts, discipline, and focus to show up every day to write, edit, and publish. Or in the Youtube world, to script, shoot, edit, and publish. 

No one said it’d be easy. 

As long as you’re going in with a clear mind and know exactly what you’re signing up for, go for it with all you’ve got.