Catcher in the Rye was one of my favorite books in high school. The main character Holden struggled with the adult behavior he was surrounded by. He believed the adults to be shallow, hypocritical and inauthentic. Through this judgement he attempted to run away from his school’s environment to escape phoniness. He instead embarked on a journey that showed him his own struggle with being phony and the results of focusing on others more than himself.
This is a life lesson that we all must learn, that the best thing we can do for ourselves is to focus on ourselves. When our focus is on ourselves we are able to develop and grow our sense of self. Fulfillment is able to be achieved when we engage in rewarding work, but that work must be specific to who we are and our skill set.
THE PRESSURES OF CONTENT CREATION
When I began creating content on Tik Tok for my small business I faced the challenge of worrying about whether it would be received. The lack of likes and comments after posting caused me to question whether my content was good. Many hours were spent looking at successful content which led to the debilitating trap of comparison.
All of the trending videos sounded a certain way, they had certain dances, they lacked substance but I copied them and received my empty engagements. After a few months of this, I experienced creative burnout and took a break from my Tik Tok. In the creative world burnout has been accepted as a part of the process. Creators are encouraged to take breaks until their inspiration returns, so I leaned into my break.
SELF DISCOVERY IS A STRENGTH
During my break, I trained to pursue law enforcement and experienced the most grueling physical training. I ran up and down the streets of Hartford, CT drenched in distress sweat. Many days I spent doing ungodly amounts of push-ups, sit ups, pull ups and bear crawls. This process broke me into multiple pieces and did away with my ego. I was able to see what I was made of without my mind being able to fill in the blanks. I was happy to discover who I was after facing the challenges and hard work my sergeant placed in front of me.
Writing is no different from being physically active. A writer expresses themself through their written words. This process can not be faked as a writer’s written work displays the writer bare for all to see. There’s no option to hide behind extravagant words as readers can sense insincerity. As well as taking shortcuts to finish written work hinders a writer’s growth and development of their self expression.
In Zinsser’s, On Writing Well, he stated that a writer’s style is as organic as the person doing the writing. He then proceeds to give the example of knowing when someone is wearing a toupee, it is noticeable because it is not of the person.
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR MY CONTENT?
After fully embracing sharing my truest self, I will continue to create content from my need to create. Whether it is for social media or my written works, I refuse to assign the pressure of whether it is enjoyed by everyone. Of course that is my intention, but it is a fact of life that not everyone will connect with me and not everyone will like what I have to offer. I harbor no hard feelings if something doesn’t perform as I would like , instead I will take it as an opportunity for growth and development.
I hold this position because it takes the weight off of myself when I am preparing to create. Zinsser gave great advice to relax and say what I want to say. And since style is who I am to my core, I only need to be true to myself to find it and cultivate it.