I'm sure my ambitions weren't so different than most when I first joined the Steemit community. I intended on posting daily, and if I didn't post, then I would make a concerted effort to comment and follow people; however, I knew going in I wasn't going to gain a following immediately, and that I would need to be consistent. I was prepared for the "long-game" going in. I also knew I was going to have periods where I wouldn't post, especially at this immediate time in my life. My health is very much a by-the-day, sometimes even by-the-moment thing, and on days where I have a lot of activity in conjunction with my health it's difficult for me to put it all together. That was all expected, though. Where I've been more frustrated are the times when I am able to post, but don't because of some of my own mental barriers.
There have been many times where I've been away from my keyboard and thought of many topics I'd like to talk about. In my mind I have these well-formed thoughts that are deep, and I'm able to convey these thoughts in a manner in which people will understand and appreciate. I feel like everyone who writes thinks this way, or at least fantasizes that they can. The problem is when I sit down to actually type, the words don't come together in a way I'm satisfied. There have been many days I've sat at my computer and typed for an hour. Only to keep typing and erasing the first two paragraphs; then, after that hour has passed I feel like I've wasted that hour, and have lost the drive/passion to complete what I set out to type.
I've always been a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to select things, and this seems to be one of them. I suppose it's natural and expected that we're always going to be our own hardest critic, but sometimes I feel I take it to the extreme. I feel like what I want to say is "too wordy" or that it takes too long for me to get to my point. When I try to amend that, I feel I go to the other extreme and that I don't put enough information to properly convey what I want to say - that without all the details and backstory I can't get my point across.
The overall theme, though, is that I overthink things. That's always been my greatest asset and achilles heel, but I know that in this particular instance I need to just write and not worry about it.
Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have anything that's helped them overcome it?
I have a t-shirt that says, Singers Sing, Preachers Preach. It is one of my all time favorite shirts. Some might say that my comment has no relevance to this post of yours. I say prove me wrong. I would like to express my appreciation to you for your willingness to share in your struggle. Your post has encourged me today. You have a bright future ahead of you on steemit.
Maybe the next part would be "writer's write" or "thinker's think." I've really learned these writing contests are a great way to get me to create content.
You are wise. I need to ponder this recent enlightenment with copious quantities of java.