Thriving 30, Volume 25: Why writing is so liberating
I think every post I’ve broadcasted on the internet I’ve been extremely insecure about. My friends can witness this because I always ask them: “Am I oversharing?”
Someone called it a diary once -- and that bothered me. I thought to myself why does a diary carry such a negative connotation? Is it just me? If this was a man that was sharing his writing, he would be called brave and would be praised for opening up. But for a woman, I am called overly emotional and oversharing? I am then immediately reminded that this is what vulnerability feels like.
I heard an impactful statement last night:
“It’s so powerful how vulnerability can feel” … I thought to myself. Damn, that is so true.
These stories started off as a platform that was selfishly my own medicine. I was finding mechanisms of coping with my thoughts. I wanted to document my experience so I can look back on it. Most importantly I wanted to be present to my experience and how I showed up in the world. I wanted to be very aware of my identity, as an Asian American woman and how others react to me being vulnerable.
When I launched my own domain in May of 2018, with my first post was: “What Happens When You Have Brain Cancer” , it got over 70K reads in a span of a week. I wanted to create something that can serve as a platform for women like myself that might have a similar experience or identify with the same struggles, personally or professionally. I then thought to myself: “I don't know what’s worse, realizing you’ve actually invested nothing/ betraying your own feelings or realizing that the feeling of fear is temporary.”
Don’t let feedback whether positive or negative carry so much weight. If I am paying 150/yr for my own domain, I am going to write whatever I want.