Oh the beauty of a blank page.
I see the possibility.
Blank pages don't stay very blank for long with me.
It is as if they are back in school again, with a test or assignment to write an essay they do not want to write. They suddenly feel inadequate, as if they have nothing to say to fill a page, even though they do have much to say. Maybe the subject of the essay is tough, or elusive, or abstract. The solemn silence then fills the classroom and pencils start scratching away all around, but the blank page stares up with a menacing paleness. With an air of drudgery it is written with a hand and mind so reluctant (while the real desire is to get out of that classroom), resulting in (possibly) receiving a low grade, or maybe not. Usually a teacher can tell if the student was giving the essay much or little thought.
That kind of memory sticks with most people, I think, to this day. I've heard people refer to it in different ways, but I never really had that feeling in school when given a blank page. I always had words swimming in my head, and I didn't realize it at the time, but I was eager to get those words out. As long as I just started writing it would all come out and I would fill that page. I'm not saying my teacher always liked it enough to give me a high grade, but I would always give it a go. I would never leave the page blank, or not fill the space (or whatever the assignment required).
In truth, I could have sat there all class period and written, that wasn't my problem. Once the biggest hurdle of simply starting to write was surpassed, it was just a matter of giving my thoughts the space to swirl and fuse in my mind and then make their way by pencil or pen onto the page.
My issue is always sharing it. Thankfully, throughout most of my school years, it wasn't the norm to read essays out loud to the class or share them, so I didn't have to approach that hurdle too often, and now that I am grown up, I have to make that effort to share. That is why this blog was born so many years ago. It is my way of sharing my writing, and challenging myself to keep going.
Keep filling the blank pages.
With my quiet, introverted, thoughtful, musing kind of personality, I am at my best creatively when I am sharing those things. So, I thank you sincerely for coming along that journey.
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