Part 3: musings & reflections on this/us
To readers of this blog (and other poets, artists or storytellers of any shape & form),
Do you ever find yourself gravitating towards trite and uninspiring metaphors to retell the same old stories?
Because I do and it’s been bothering me a lot lately.
A quick scroll down my page & you’ll see my obsession with comparing unrequited love, broken friendships and my overthinking mind to oceans, storms and dark starless nights.
On one hand, I know that it’s so important to always tell your own truth and this constant struggle with body image, establishing boundaries and vocalising my feelings to other people has been mine since I was a little girl. That being said, at times, there’s just this nagging voice at the back of my head that this is an excuse for me to be my own worst enabler.
Instead of focusing on living in the present and fulfilling my responsibilities in the real world, I am finding myself losing hours of the day wallowing in self pity (but as soon as I think that, another voice pipes up in my head telling me that I’m being too harsh and sabotaging my opportunities to feel vulnerability).
I feel like the root of the problem is that I haven’t been able to find balance. At one extreme, it feels like I’m picking apart the stitches that hold me together every few days just to see what words will spill out from from the seams and at the other, I am always swallowing words at the tip of my tongue, smiling, and letting strangers trample over my comfort zone because it’s a shortcut to their happiness, you know?
I wonder if my relationship with the online world and poetry is healthy. On one hand, I’m practising my writing skills, finding a community and learning to articulate my feelings but I’m not going to lie about becoming addicted by that hit of online validation and with that comes stress.
I worry about people losing interest. I worry about people disliking my writing. I worry even about compliments about how ‘beautiful’ the tales I spin are. Is it because these little fragments resonate with you, like a puzzle piece that fits the lives of both you and me or if the only reason people pay me a sparing glance is because of our intrinsic curiosity in the morbid, carcass in the middle of the road at night?
Would I still have a space here if I posted less regularly? What if I wrote about happier things?
example:
bear witness as the sunset stains the sky with crimson sex,
do not look away as it blinds you to lesser sights
like you, like me, like us.the sunset attracts fireflies
that watch over us all night.
I suppose this post might come off as a defeat or a victory depending on how you see it. Although I haven’t figured anything out, this confusing feeling I’m exploring here is different from what I usually talk about. At the same time, outside of the online sphere, I’m expanding more into poetry about working and new people I’ve met (focusing on things outside myself) as I’m experiencing more of what life to offer.
Don’t worry, I will never try to change what I write for the sake of changing, it’ll just sound terribly forced as you might have realised from my example above. This mess right here? This is 100% me, and you guys signed up for that (I don’t know why but thank you so much) so that’s what I’ll continue to deliver!
I will however, continue venturing outside of my comfort zone in real life, and gather some more life experience and hopefully my content will mature as I do with a few more mistakes under my belt. I’m sure what I write at thirty-nine will be drastically different from what I’m writing now at nineteen, I can’t wait to compare them in 20 years.
Anyway that is all for now, sorry if this is a bit rant-y and incoherent, it reminds me of the types of posts I would write in my earlier days. Maybe I’ll do more of these, maybe not. I just needed to get it out there. Have a good day everyone!
Love,
Maggy.
The way you express things nobody does that. People can never lost a interest from your writing. Sometimes i get inspire my your writings. Maggy you’re awesome.
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This meant a lot to me, thank you for taking the time to tell me that ❤ I will keep trying my best haha, I genuinely appreciate this a lot!
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*By your writing sorry typo mistake
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May I say that I’m going through exactly the same thing currently(approval and stuff) but I have to tell you that you should write what comes to you,without worrying about if it appeals to others or not,without worrying about the style of writing,as we grow we change,so does everything about us,and people who follow you may adapt or not,maybe others will start following you,please don’t fret about your style,you don’t have to stick to it for the sake of or push it for the sake of,let it flow,your writing will evolve and the process shouldn’t be hindered,have fun writing.
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yes, great insight, that’s where I eventually ended up as well in my post! I’m glad I let it sit in my drafts for maybe 2 weeks? It gave me time to let those initial feelings simmer down & I will continue doing what I”m doing.
good luck to you too!
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It took me a while to figure out what to say to you but I really waves to say something so here it is: I used to struggle with this. I loved creeping in my skin to see what was underneath and write about it. But it hurt. It became a form of self-destruction for me and I had to stop. (Then I turned to self-harm a year later and had to stop that.) You have to stop at the point that it becomes maladaptive or hurts you more than it heals you. Hopefully, your case isn’t as extreme as mine was, but if it is…I’m here for you. Just remember: Some things are better left unsaid and some things shouldn’t be questioned. That was a big issue for me; I began questioning everything I knew just for kicks and it became so distressful. I’m so glad I’m not there anymore and I don’t want you to end up there. But maybe I’m just a little over worried, I’m like that sometimes 😂 have a nice day!
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Thank you so much for reaching out ❤
I’m the type to over worry too, hahah. I think lots of people think I’m really dumb or naive because of this. Like, I’ll take whatever they say seriously even if it sounds like they’re pulling my leg because I’m scared of laughing off something important, you know? Better safe than sorry and all. Anyway that was a tangent to avoid confronting my feelings!
I am definitely in a weird stage that you described of questioning everything about myself and it is pretty tiring. I think I am getting over that though and will reach out if it gets out of hand.
I know it’s repetitive but just wanted to say it again, thanks so much for caring 🙂
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You’re very welcome, I just wanted to be sure you weren’t in the same dark place as me because I’d hate for anyone else to be going through that. If you ever need to talk, my e-mail is confessionsofareborngirl@gmail.com. I wish you the best.
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Hallo Maggy, may I say that all the feelings are natural that you have expressed. It is both an inspiration and fascination to read another persons work and feel connected, both by the thoughts expressed and the intentions barely hidden. I really like your blog. What is there of balance if there is no inbalance…
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❤ ❤ ❤
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It is so nice to know that someone else feels this same pressure. Blogging is so much harder than I first predicted. Someone told me this last week, and it really helped:
” You came on here to write for yourself. Because it’s a way of saying something, that deep inside you, needs to be said. And if others appreciate it then that’s great. But don’t forget, you are your main audience. If the words don’t feel right, then don’t say them. ”
Hope this helped, like your article helped me 🙂
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hey thank you for this 🙂
funny how I totally forgot about writing this and funnily enough pretty much explained the exact same sentiments in my latest poem, I am such a broken record hahah (but hopefully I can start to own it!)
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