Sitting With Your Writing
On writing, time, and personal growth.
Your Writing Journey is Personal
When the world went into lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago, it felt like time stood still. Back then, I grounded myself by taking daily walks for miles up and down the winding valleys of Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Listening to a flood of new music made the passing time feel less torturous.
The long walks and my appreciation for topography grew over this time.
From the end of 2019 to 2023, I couldn’t write. I could barely write team memos, draft emails, journal…or anything else. I read the news daily, played video games, and tried to keep up with friends and family.
The pandemic taught me one thing about my work, and in some ways, the revelation crippled me. I never truly worked from home; home was just suited for uploading and research.
When I was 19 years old, I wrote, edited, and sometimes worked on the go.
Around that age, I lived in Washington State, and my commute to and from work took nearly four hours every day. I took three buses and worked on edits for students in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (two hours each way)
My high school journalism teacher hired me in the summer of 2011, and I worked remotely editing articles and biographies for her students until early 2013. Her students were brilliant, and at the time, it was one of my favorite ways to connect with people at home
I hardly remember those days or how I had that much energy and motivation, but they’re happy memories, and my early work gave me a path to where I am today.
Mindset & Collaboration
Years later, I launched State of the Territory News. With the help of my long-time friend, David Anderson, (who I met on Google +) my first big project took off in less than a year. He contributed articles as a guest writer, offered his counsel on the most effective way to scale my message, and took stunning headshots of me that, in many ways, elevated the image of my online publication.
On a call with David a few weeks ago, I opened up about how instrumental his presence was in the early days of my project. We stayed connected over the years. We’d meet up for a few short weeks and knock out so many activities.
Every new experience sharpened my writing, and over the years, I learned to sit with my thoughts as U.S. politics grew darker. He was in my apartment in the U.S. Virgin Islands when I got a job offer to work as a communications aide for the governor.
Analysis of my First Failure
Looking back at my first failure (while I was in my Twenties), all I see is youthful ignorance and foolishness (aka stupidity). Alas, that alone is not helpful for root cause analysis of my first business failure. However, there are three causes that stand out and serve as an object lesson throughout the early part of my business career.
Reimagining what collaboration could accomplish helped me break out of my shell and physically explore the island I grew up on. I never told David, but I was a little uneasy exploring downtown Charlotte Amalie on foot. I grew up on the eastern side of the island, and I drove everywhere I needed to go.
In many ways, meeting David in person after years of virtual chats brought me down to Earth, and I’m grateful.
Time
“Time is a thief, and guilt is its accomplice, stealing moments of joy and replacing them with the weight of the past." — Google AI Overview hallucination from a search result
Time is yours to spend. Spend time in your garden. Spend it laughing and creating things that bring you joy. Spend it doing what you love. And spend time with people who bring you joy.
In other words, every day you write a piece of history, no ink is needed.
Amaziah! This is such an awesome article. Thank you for contributing. I like the Gemini-generated image; it's beautiful. I love the Gemini-hallucinated quote; it's so wise. I enjoyed reading about your writing progress; I had always just assumed it was easy for you. This article deserves a wider audience; I hope you also share it via your other platforms.