Drafts and Promises

“You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”
― Annie Proulx

Hey sweet thing,

If you could see how many drafts I have on this sites “owner page” you’d send back a 😳 emoji in response.

I love writing for the simple fact that it “gets it out of me!” I have a lot swirling inside. *this is an understatement* If unchecked I can be one neurotic broad! 😉

Because I care about you as a reader I have decided NOT to put you through uninspired/incomplete/“not yet ripe” reading material.

I’m not saying that all of my posts you “do” read will be Pulitzer Prize winning masterpieces. I just promise you that I WILL NOT POST if it doesn’t feel “inspired.”

This is an oddly challenging pressure in our world right now. Literally every platform I am a part of digitally tells me in some form or fashion “in order to boost performance…post daily” or the first thing I see is: “what’s on your mind?” With a fancy little “send” button below. How about the inbox messages I get from other platforms sending me training videos of how to “grow your audience” with tips, formats and courses I can purchase for a nominal fee.

I genuinely don’t hate on anyone who even spends money to promote their content. That’s advertising. But we live in a hungry and kind of entitled (sorry I said it) digital world. I see your hunger. I may not always “deliver” the meal of words…EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Instead tonight I figured I would remain accountable to you sweet thing and make the promise I made to myself about this website public.

1) I promise to post ONLY when the post feels “inspired.” I’ll trust my gut to know if it is or not.

2) I promise to write daily *to get it out of me* and practice my skills in this new medium. Typing is faster than classic journaling so it has some new “hiccups” I can iron out with daily practice.

3) I promise to at least give you my “perfect moments” updated daily by the end of my day. (If its 2am and thats when I’m ending my day… it still counts)

4) I promise to be honest.

And that is about all I can promise you for now! Anything else is WAY too overwhelming and not true to me. What “is” true (I think) is that in some way or another, we are all just a bunch of “drafts and promises.” That is not as much conflict as it is paradox.

Will this “slow” my audience growth? I honestly don’t know. I had to take time before even started to gut check “why” I was doing this. (It doesn’t matter to you now, but I promise in time you’ll be glad I’m not just hungry for your attention)

*I had to deal with that “ish” before going so public with my insides.*

Our inside world can be a perilous or paradisiacal place. We are light and dark swirling. What wins inside of us? The part we feed.

Here’s to hoping I can contribute more “good soul food” for you in upcoming posts…

Sweet thing remember life is lighter when you-

Let love in.

And send love out.

-Aubrey

*bonus quotes* on words and my thoughts on writing in general

“How odd I can have all this inside me and to you it’s just words.”
― David Foster Wallace

“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”
― Maya Angelou

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
― Rudyard Kipling

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets