I never thought of myself as a writer. My mother was the writer in our family. I did not see writing as a career path for me. I was a shy and quite child. I always thought of myself as an artist or crafter. I enjoyed making things with my hands, drawing, sewing, and painting.
When I was a high school student, my mother wrote for the local newspaper and she had a weekly column that was very popular in our little town. She often shared “slice of life” stories about our family. One week she wrote an article about me and my little sister. My sister had asked her why boys were always calling me on the phone and not her. My sister was seven years younger than me. My mom explained that boys go through hormonal changes in their teens and they would call her when she was a teen.
I did not know that my mother had written this story and sent it to the newspaper. The morning after this article ran in the newspaper, I was bombarded by classmates and teachers who said tauntingly, “Boys just like you because they have raging hormones!”
I was mortified and I stunned the rest of day. The shy person that I was did not know how to confront these people. I had no snappy comebacks. I had no voice. I finally figured out the source of the taunting was my mother’s newspaper as one of my teachers had it sitting open on his desk. I went straight home and to my mother and I said,
” DO NOT EVER WRITE ABOUT ME IN THE NEWSPAPER AGAIN! IF YOU EVER WRITE ABOUT ME AGAIN, I WILL DIE, D-I-E!”
So that day, I definitely found my voice and spoke up about what I did not want.
Finding Your Voice:
Sometimes we are more passionate about what we don’t like than what we do like. My mother found her voice by sharing inspiring “slice of life” stories.
I enjoy sharing tips and how to information as found in my book. The Power of Content Marketing.
