I've more confidence in my ability to write - something I've done my whole life, yet am unqualified - than I do working in a field I'm qualified for. Give me a pen, or a keyboard, and I don't have to think (well, maybe I think a little) - the words just come to me.

Writing's not just something that I enjoy - be it a story, a journal entry, a blog post - writing, for me, is a survival skill:

https://brologue.net/2023/12/26/my-spines-as-stiff-as-a-prosthetic-leg

I started blogging six months ago for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to write for an audience. I've been writing my whole life, but I've only been a public writer for six months. It's easier to pretend someone's reading when your work's public online. My #Zettelkasten has become a foundry for post ideas, and when those posts are put on Brologue, I can reuse or revisit those ideas, recycling my previous work:

https://brologue.net/2023/11/04/zettelkasten-an-antidote-for-boring-notes

Second, every writer's felt the rush of dread whenever they revisit an old piece, and think, "Wait, I *wrote* that?" It's a feeling that's always dragged me down and made me second-guess my abilities. The dilemma of the would-be blogger is wanting to go public with their opinions, but not wanting to be criticised for opinions down the line that've changed, or are no longer acceptable.

Having a public ledger of what you think is *great,* actually. Minds change, and opinions you once held can become dubious, but there's always room to revisit them. Blogging lets me see the contextual big picture, or, how my mind changes over time. I don't always get it right, and being able to refer back to what I was thinking at the time means I can try to get it wrong better than most.

Another thing I've learned through blogging is that doubt doesn't discriminate. Doubt is the perennial know-it-all of the mind, adjusting its glasses whenever you think you're good at something, or hit a stumbling block, and pelts you with a "WELL, ACKCHUALLY…" Blogging allows me to remind myself that, yes, I AM a good writer, and at the same time, I can be better.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Writing is my art, and I intend to write as if I'm already free:

https://brologue.net/2024/04/25/stare-at-screen

In a word, writing as if already free means writing without fear. I may not know who is going to read this, but as long as the web's end-to-end principle is respected, these words will always exist online for someone else to find:

https://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2023/11/11/therapy/#wishful