Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
everyones on drugs
How many of the people you know are on meds? Because nearly everyone I know is. Whether that be giving you more of this or less of that, it’s three pills a day down the hatch on cue. And if you don’t, well you better prepare yourself for a shit day. It’s sad to me to think about if anyone is really their true selves? Will we ever go off of our meds? Will it be like this forever? It seems like its just our generation though, my parents are constantly concerned about the amount of meds doctors will just prescribe to kids. But do we need it? Sometimes I think I need more, sometimes I think I’m just overreacting and wonder if I really need to be on meds. But yes, yes I do. I take meds so that I can focus, and I have a medical marijuana card for my anxiety, however I don’t consider weed to be a harmful medicine. Unfortunately I can’t use my med card at school. And the ease of going to the dispensary and being able to choose whatever strain will make me stop shaking is something I have to wait for until I’m home again. Just today in class I tried to raise my hand, I knew the answer and no one else was speaking but I could only get my hand halfway up before I nearly entered a full blown panic attack. My heart started beating out of my chest, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus. I had the answer she was looking for, so simple. Yet, I couldn’t share my thoughts and knowledge without wanting to run out of that classroom and never turn back. And today, in about an hour and a half, I have to make a speech in front of my class, and I’m going first, on the first day, no I did NOT choose that for myself. My friends joked around last night about how I was taking it too seriously, they all took the same class with the same professor and made the same speeches, but I couldn’t get over that fear and I stood in front of the mirror practicing for hours, a 2 minute speech. I wonder if therapy would take some of that away, I didn’t used to be this nervous. I used to be so social, interacting with everyone and anyone. I can’t just walk up to a stranger at a party and ask what their name is anymore. Starting a conversation doesn’t come with ease anymore. I trip up on my words and overthink every detail until I find myself in bed laying awake at 3am trying to smother my thoughts into my pillows. I’m lucky enough to have a group of friends that understand those feelings, we all deal with our anxiety in different way and have different things that tick us off. However as much of a support system it is, I can’t help but think we’re stuck in this group mentality, making it worse for each other. Because honestly, my anxiety started getting worse when I started to spend a lot of time with this group. When I surround myself with more social people who push me to go out more and meet new people, I can do it, and I love it most of the time. I don’t know, if anyone is still following along, this is really just a stream of consciousness, hopefully someone can relate.
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
Why do this?
- Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
- Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.
The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
- What topics do you think you’ll write about?
- Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
- If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.
Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.
When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.
