“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

What do you want to be when you grow up? The annoying question that came long before the current “Do you have a boyfriend yet?” or “Did you find a job yet?” But unlike my recent answers, the initial, at times invasive, question was always greeted by a new answer, a new phase. One day I wanted to be a ballerina, then I discovered Britney Spears and wanted to be a singer. An event planner. A director. And now most recently a writer…TV writer to be exact. The truth is I often question, the path I’ve chosen. And if it was the right one for me. If this is what I’m destined to be…meant to do for the rest of my life…be a writer. And the confusion is heavy at times. When they say 20 somethings are just trying to find themselves…it’s totally true. You may not know it but that’s what- the feeling you have in the pit of your stomach that questions you and everything you are- that’s what that is. You are just trying to find yourself. But how do you do that? How do I do that? I choose to write. And I may write more some days than others. And there are days when I don’t want to write at all. Or days when I don’t feel like sitting in front of a computer screen all day. All of it can be exhausting. My fellow writers know this, I’m sure. It starts to weigh on you. But for the most part, it’s still a big part of my life. And I keep coming back to it. The thing is writing has many genres. And you can mingle with all of them. (And make yourself slightly crazy.) Or you can dip your toes in a few and test the waters. I have enjoyed exploring many of them. But that also confuses the crap out of me. Short stories, poetry, pop culture pieces, reviews, movie scripts, tv scripts. The list is endless. And they are all different. But at the heart of it all there is one goal in writing isn’t there? No matter what specific genre you want to fit yourself into. The goal is to tell a story. You have something to say, and you want to share it with the world. You want them to feel. And that’s the driving force for every writer, I think. We don’t just write to write, we write because we love to tell stories. And that is a beautiful thing. So I guess this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Now I just have to figure out where I should be doing it and how to make it happen. I’ll leave you with a quote I recently came across that made me really happy and left me feeling inspired.

“I’m going to take over the world through television.”

– Shonda Rhimes

(ABC show-runner; Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder)

*I think it’s safe to say, she did.

*I do not take credit for the image used.*

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