Welcome!

Hello, world!  I have officially entered the blogosphere!

And I am so excited to be here.

It occurred to me the other day, as I was telling someone that I'm a writer, that merely announcing that fact does not make it true... at least, no more so than saying I'm an Olympic athlete makes that true, for example.  My muscles are less than impressive and I have the stamina of a goldfish (I'm not really sure what that last bit means but it seems to work there, so we'll just roll with it, shall we?).

But you know what?  I bet that if I'd decided I wanted to take my life in the direction of the Olympics, and I trained a little (or a lot), I could dive or swim or smack that tennis ball or even wrestle (!) with the best of 'em.

My point being that it's not enough just to say that I want something.  Turns out I actually have to practice.  Like, all the time.

The most common piece of advice given to writers who are trying to hone their craft (which is probably every writer, now that I think about it) is to write a little bit every day.  I definitely don't do that.  I mean, I write e-mails every day, I journal when I think about it, and I write for my creative writing classes at school.  But I don't make a conscious effort to set aside a chunk of time every day to do this thing that makes my heart happy, to write with abandon and just see what happens.  For a while now, I've thought that setting aside some time to blog each day would be a good way to counteract this, but I won't even do that.  Sometimes it's because I'm too lazy or tired after a long day to think about sitting at my computer for a couple more minutes when I'd really rather just be in bed.  Sometimes it's because I claim that I can't think of anything to write about, which people will challenge by saying that I should just write about absolutely anything that comes to mind.  It doesn't have to make sense, they'll say.  Just do it.

But most often, I think it's because I'm too afraid of what others will think.  Will they like it?  Will I be good enough for them?  Will they criticize or laugh at me?  Will they blow up my comments section with an observation of how I accidentally said "your" instead of "you're"?  Will they think that I'm witty enough, or observing enough?  What if my writing is just all wrong, or really bad?

But here's what I'm starting to realize:

Yes, I want to write to inspire others.  But I think that will follow if I first write for myself.  We've talked in my writing classes about how you should focus on that if you want to be a writer -- just write for yourself, and don't worry about the reception.  If you love to write, you do it because it fulfills you, not because it will necessarily fulfill someone else.  Publication is not the point.

It might sound selfish to think about it that way, but I don't think it is.  It's only in the act of truly embracing your own self, of letting your own light shine so fully and completely, that you can even begin to move to a place where you'll be able to pour that light on others.  

So I'm writing, and blogging, because I want to.  Because I feel, deep in the core of my heart, that I have truths to tell, and I want to shout them as clearly and loudly as I can.  I want to write, first and foremost, for myself.  Because it's something that fills my heart.  I think that's real bravery -- doing what you want because you want to do it, and being honest with yourself.  You won't please everyone.  That's a fact.  But you should first just make sure that you're pleasing yourself.  And I wholeheartedly believe that if I'm doing that, at least one other person will be inspired by the words I have to say.  And if I can change the way that just one person sees the world, then I'll have succeeded.

The other thing I've noticed?  It's that if something comes from the deepest, most honest part of my heart, then it won't -- it can't -- be "wrong."  "Wrong" is a word that implies there are only two ways to look at something.  But there are infinite ways to create, and not one of them is wrong, because the only thing necessary for a good creation is the honest, sincere, effort to shape and make something that wasn't there before.  When you do this, you're sharing some of yourself with the world, in whatever special, completely unique way that only you can.  And the world needs those gifts that only you can give.  So give them!  That's my command to you, and my command to myself.  As a perfectionist, I'm often hindered by concerns that what I'm writing won't be eloquent enough, or evocative enough... and perhaps those are things to work on.  But my writing won't be "wrong" if it comes from my heart.  

And it does.  I write because I have something to say.  I write because I want to inspire others.  I write because there's so much beauty and joy and love and light to be found in the world, and I want to tell people about it.  That's why I'm calling this blog "SARAHndipity."  It's not just because my name is Sarah, and any day I can make a pun out of my name is a good day.  It's also because "serendipity" is defined (at least by dictionary.com) as "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident."  I believe that there are so many "desirable discoveries" to be made just by living, if you keep your eyes open to all of the magic around you, and if you live your life with arms wide open. 

Thank you so much for reading!  I can't wait to see where this goes.  

Sarah