Actually, I Am

Nothing like a spring afternoon in quarantine that inspires you to write the things you've been thinking about.


But, first, this song. When I first heard it, I wanted to move and hold my breath and just listen at the same time.

Lovely


I remember it vividly. It was April 2016 on a work trip to Alaska when I had such a profound trip. You can read it here. It was a year of manifesting big dreams and crushing goals. It was the year I trained and became an Ironman. But, it was the year that I transformed into myself. Someone who could do hard things. It was the year of big feedback. It was a year I loved my job so hard. It was also the year I said out loud that I am a writer. This dirty little secret I wanted to share, this passion that I wanted to take to the world or at least my very little corner of it.

I always carried this little notebook with me where I would jot down thoughts, experiences and things to look up later. I was exploring Anchorage and decided to hit up this little spot that a friend recommended. It was called Snow City Cafe. I walked in and saddled up to breakfast bar, next to this cute older man and ordered waffles. We started chatting. He asked me what I did for a living. I remember saying to myself "should I say writer?" That was in my heart. The hesitation felt like a full minute, but was actually only seconds before I said I was in public relations and there for work.

It was a defining moment. It was then that I would honor my passion and use my outside voice to say that I am a writer. I had a friend send me a postcard around this time as well that said, "If you write, you are a writer." She was in the inner circle of my true confessions. And I vowed to write more, to say that I am a writer and someone who loved the written word. I mean, I was essentially a writer in my professional life-press releases, copywriting content and providing language in marketing campaigns. And I loved that, still do. But, there is something when you write from your heart and the passion radiates your fingertips into a narrative for the reader.

So, I have turned my writing into part of my business. I use it to illustrate my travels, my goals, my thoughts and most importantly, it's been my voice in places and spaces that I couldn't be present.

I wrote this in my notebook on that Alaska trip, sitting on a bench, looking out into the water: Dream it, Wish it, Believe it, Become it.

And I did.

You do you,
Anna