Here's to the end of the perpetual writing block

A few weeks ago our English class had a discussion about what makes good writing. One gentleman titled his post, Writing about writing....it's a viscous cycle.   Yet here I am writing about writing. I find it fascinating to see my children struggle with some of the same things I struggled with as a girl. I remember worrying that I did not have an interesting enough topic, or I couldn't think of anything at all.  When I was eleven I must have complained about being bored one summer day. I remember my mother handed me a legal pad and a pencil and told me to go out and write something, a story, anything. She obviously believed that I could. I didn't believe I could. I must have sat out in the grass for hours. I never got past 'It was a dark and stormy night'. That was probably the beginning of what I could call a perpetual writers block.  When I went to college, the first time, I remember writing to a prompt to see what level of English I would take as an eighteen year old freshman. I had a conversation with the girl sitting at the table with me. She really wanted the 200 level class. I really didn't. I saw her a few months later on campus and asked how she had done, she was disappointed and hadn't gotten into the 200 level class. I had.  As I look back this is a pretty good representation of my writing history. All around me people tell me that I should, could, ought to be, a writer, and I am filled with self doubt.  I don't have the ambition to write for anything other than fun, but if becoming a better writer is about practice, then I will practice. So here I am on my blog because it's part of an assignment, but I also enjoy it!  

Today I finalized a profile I wrote about a good friend. The profile had to support my thesis from a previous assignment. As I interviewed her she said something so good I had to share, “Being a perfectionist is really about insecurity; being insecure is about fear; and fear is about not having faith.”   As I write this I recognize the need for me to have faith in myself. That's a tall order for me, but I'm working on it - everyday. When I logged on I looked at my last post from March 13. I was trying to get ready for a couple of big tests that day and felt really overwhelmed. I know without a doubt that what I said was true, my worth does not come from my grade, but I'm happy to report a 98% on my lecture exam, and a 100% on my lab practical. Hard work pays off, and so does believing in myself.