It’s taken me approximately three years to start avidly writing again and only about twelve to finally start blogging.   Crazy right?  What always held me back was finding a topic area to write about consistently.  Sure, “life” seems like the obvious choice I should have chosen those twelve years ago, when I was writing dark poetry in high-school, but at the time it seemed unoriginal.  I was the girl who had to be different, because everyone around me seemed the same.  And come on…predictable equals boring.  That’s probably why countless times in my life I’ve been called a weirdo.

Then, freshman year of College, my incredibly sexy english teacher asked me, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”   I said,

“A writer.”  And, I was not saying this because he was sexy.  It was the truth.

“Well then, what do you plan to write about?”

“An autobiography,” I responded.

He crossed his arms, “what makes you think people want to read about your life?”  My cheeks flushed… my jawed dropped…and I’m pretty sure we call this condition embarrassment.

“Because, I’ve seen things people my age have not.”  That was the end of the conversation, but I was left wondering, then what do I write?

~McKinley deep in thought~

You should know that today is a special day.  It’s McKinley’s ½ Birthday.   And we’ve spent the day reflecting (a common practice in the household) on the things we have learned the past 6 months.

McKinley’s Journey includes learning:

• 1)      To hold her head up,
• 2)      To roll both ways,
• 3)      To reach & grasp for objects,
• 4)      To sit,
• 5)      To eat cereal,
• 6)      To crawl,
• 7)      To screech & babble
• 8)      Her likes & dislikes
• 9)      And other codes of communication.

My journey includes learning:

• 1)     New responsibility becoming a mother
• 2)     A new meaning of life & evolving love
• 3)     The DSM-IV (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders)
• 4)     Administration, Childhood development, Intervention Theories & Techniques, Ethics-and basically anything Social Work related.
• 4)     Never to plan on the plan, but have one.  And, it’s okay to abandon the plan.
• 5)     No one can take your education from you.  It’s worth the money.

Later in life I realized people want connection, want to feel like, Oh hey, I’m actually not alone.  You see, we enjoy reading about the human condition.  Therefore, autobiographies are awesome and sexy teachers suck.   I’m not writing because I have something interesting to say, or have random experiences that you don’t.  I’m writing for me, the weird girl who doesn’t have to be different anymore, to write.  And, I don’t love any one thing enough to consistently write about it, other than my family.