Creating Community

I've made my struggles with fitting in no secret. In fact, you could say I'm writing a whole series about it. My classmates rejected me. I've never done well working in groups. I have trouble with labels and rules and fitting into boxes. I've always longed for community, but it's been nearly impossible to find.

When I discovered the online writing community, I thought maybe I had found my place. I expected any group of writers to be full of eccentrics, doing their own thing, just with support from each other. Instead, I found (at least at first) a lot of sameness. A lot of similar rules and advice. A lot of "do you fit into this box or that box" kind of posts.

For a while, this was a constant pain and pressure on me. Something was wrong with me that I couldn't fit in again. Even in this one most relating concept of my life. The thing that brought me through my schooling years. My escape. My sacred calling. I saw this as a flaw in me. My brain told me I was at fault. But my soul knew better.

When I started going my own way again, leaving all the well-meaning but stifling advice behind, I began to find other creatives that I resonated with. I curated my social media feeds with content that was inspiring over motivating. People who made heartfelt content. People I genuinely resonated with. And even more importantly, I was making (and sharing) the content I most wanted to see.

I'm still searching for community. But I'm going to try to build my own this time. I think that's really the best path forward for me.