Today two of my favorites, Helene and Sarah, are doing a linkup asking "what inspires your blog posts?" This has the potential to be a heavy topic, but if you're even a semi-regular Gila Monster reader you know that my blog posts go all over the place. One day I'll talk about civil rights, the next I might be talking about my nail polish of the week or my cats.
As you know if you've read my little bio blurb over there on the right, I'm an accountant. People are often surprised by that, and frankly so am I a lot of the time. I've always had a knack for numbers, but I suck at science so trust me, those two don't always go hand-in-hand. I've also always had a love for reading and writing. In high school I once aced a paper on "The Old Man and the Sea" without reading the book or even the Cliffs Notes (my love for reading as a 16-year-old didn't extend to Hemingway). I also had a paper entered into some contest after totally bullshitting my way through it (and likely writing it at the last minute). The topic was freedom and all I remember is that I twisted it around and the title of my paper was "Freedom?" By the way, it didn't win but that was expected since it was a bit controversial.
In college, I've mentioned before that I originally wanted to double major in business and music but didn't do it. What I did was immerse myself in the English department as much as possible. I took English courses whenever I could to fulfill the various liberal arts requirements. I also worked in the department, eventually proofreading tests for professors.
In my accounting career, I've often been asked to proofread reports (accountants stereotypically suck at writing). But I've always wanted more. I don't write in a diary, but a couple years ago I finally got up the nerve to start this blog. I really only shared it with family and friends and Facebook, but then I got brave and jumped into the blogging community and now it's out there for all to see. Or not. Regardless, I'm so grateful for the ability and the outlet to share my feelings or rantings or observations.
Most of my posts aren't thought out too far in advance. Sometimes I stare at the blank page and then all of a sudden I remember something I saw the day before and the words just come out. I certainly get inspired by other bloggers and linkups are often really helpful to jump start the creative process. And I'm inspired by knowing that people are actually reading what I have to say, no matter how goofy it may be some days. In the blogging world I'm not a big blogger. I don't have a massive number of followers, at least not that anyone else can see. But I often have people tell me that they enjoy my blog, and I didn't even know they read it!
So to each of you reading out there, even though I can't see you, I "see" you. Thanks for keeping me going.
Happy Gwensday!
