On Choosing To Make Room

One of the best things about writing is that in a way, it forces you to expose yourself. Every time I hit ‘publish’ on an essay I am sending a little piece of myself out there into the cosmic void. Ever since I first watched You’ve Got Mail (roughly 437 viewings ago), I like to refer to the Internet “the cosmic void”. Meg Ryan makes it sound so much more magical, doesn’t she?

Sending pieces of myself out into the cosmic void can be scary. But without question, one of the biggest rewards to this kind of vulnerability has been the camaraderie that has come out of it.

New friendships and bonds have been forged because someone read my words and had a “me too” moment.

I have people in my life now that I would have never had the benefit of knowing, had I not taken this leap. Some of these are cyber-friendships with people whom I may never physically lay eyes on, but they are no less kindred spirits. They are friends, without question.

In the past I’ve spoken a lot about hospitality, and what that means to me. How I believe that it’s about not only making people feel welcome in my home, but in my life as well. It’s about making room.

I believe this with my whole heart, and I want to incorporate it in my writing as well. I think the whole reason I write, what really lies at the root of it, is a desire to relate and connect with other people. It has always been hardwired into me- that desire to chase down those “me too” moments. Whatever little corner of real estate I hold here in the cosmic void, I want to share that space with my fellow writers as well as some of my readers.

I will mostly be the one writing here, but on occasion I will also be opening this space up for someone else’s voice to be heard. In fact, next week I have some guest writers lined up and I’m so excited to share their stories with you here.

I hope you stay tuned and follow along, but I mostly hope you join the conversation!

* This is Day 24 of a 31 Day series on Keeping It Real. You can find all of the posts in this series here.  I hope you follow along and join the conversation! *