Writing for a living when no one wants to read

I gave this blog the headline “Taming for the real world” because that is what I intend to share here. I was as wild and hasty as a forest fire but life tamed me to be a more mature and better person. This first post is about one of the very first experiences that started taming me. It is an art-to allow oneself to be tamed when the temptation to stay wild is strong. Yet once I was tamed I realized it was for my own good.

I was 12 years old when I wrote my very first poem for a school project. It was a simple narration of my likes and dislikes with rhyming words so I deduced it is indeed poetry. My teacher really liked it and appreciated my “talent”. Then on I started writing poetry and continued to do so till my senior year with the aspiration of getting it all published someday. Along with poetry I also wrote short stories, kept a regular journal, and periodically wrote articles for school papers, newspaper, and then became an extremely underpaid journalist as my first real paid job in college. I lived with just $5/article because I wanted to write. The urge to write was so powerful that it kept bugging me if I did not attend to it immediately.

I have been an avid reader of classics and selected modern novels both in English and Urdu which helps me to keep connected with the writer inside me. After college, MBA and a “professional” job kept me so engrossed that I had no time to fulfill my writing aspirations. I still wanted to write though especially since those were the years I had just stepped into adulthood and a barrage of problems grabbed me before I could even enjoy a bit of fun that generally new adults have, and the only means of escape and solace for me was to write. I have not had a normal adulthood to begin with because I had to face a lot of problems alone. Problems that I intend to write about and I will because I want to share my experiences with young adults. Being faced with same problems at the age of 21 is very different than having to face them at 27. I learnt a lot and it brought me back to square 1 i.e. writing.

Now, at 27, after years of self development and feeling the urge to write more powerful than ever inside me, I am sitting in front of this screen and typing these words praying that they will not get lost somewhere but hit home with someone out there. Someone who is destined to read what I write, feel it, embrace it, and someday smile thanking me that I shared what is in my heart on this screen and in turn with them. Writing is not an easy job. It requires dedication, persistence, and lots of motivation. Today I have resumed my ambition to write, not to gain fame or even material wealth, but to regain my identity. Like a painter whose paintings are not just works of art but a part of his/herself. Every color and every stroke is a part of their existence. Just like these words I type. This is me dissolving into rote and being tasted by my reader. This is me becoming you, a relation that is very rare and quickly extinguishing among people as we chase fragile and esoteric cosmetics in this fast paced world of ours.

I am writing to live, to succeed, to be cherished, and if God Wills then make it a living too if it is meant to be. It is food for my soul already so if it becomes a source of my material living it will just be a blessing. This blog is my exhibition like an artist’s of works of art that only a few will like, most will critique, and just a handful will be willing to help with. Nonetheless I decided to begin so here I am. There was a time when I was just waiting for the right time to start drafting a book. I waited at least 5 years for that right time and now I feel I wasted all these years. The right time is now, “right now”. If it wasn’t it would have been called “left now”.

So as I take this first step in this journey I want you to join me. You can cheer or boo but whatever you do I hope you stick with me because writing is one of those journeys where indeed even the sky is not the limit. I am a simple girl, trying to keep a simple world, because I believe the most important things to sustain a good life are simple and small. As I dive in, you can too, by promising to listen to your heart, pursue what it is directing you towards, and let it guide you on this path. Its your journey, and who knows maybe one day we all just might run into each other. I want that day to be the day we all rejoice and tell our story of beginning a journey that made us better simply because we listened to our hearts and fed our souls for a change.