And I'm Back In The Game!

Well it has been quite some time since I've sat down and wrote an article! Years ago, I used to write for a fan contribution site called MoviePilot (later renamed Creators). Over the course of three years, dozens of articles, interviews with celebrities, and covering a handful of special events as a member of the press, writing became something I love to do in my free time. Since the company went under, it continued to be something I've explored from time to time with spec scripts for current shows and attempts at writing my own television and movie scripts. Sadly, over the years, writing was put on the back burner behind training martial arts, cosplaying, and going to conventions. Every now and then I'd get that spark of "Hm... that's a fun concept for a show/movie/short" but would rarely act on it. But with "normal life" taking a hiatus for an undetermined amount of time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I figured this is a great time to get back to it.

If you couldn't tell by now, this article is going to be a bit more like a journal entry of sorts. A way for me to unstick the gears a bit and talk about some of the things that brought me back to writing, where I hope it takes me, and what I look to do on this platform and others!

Everything Is About Perspective

Like I said before, we're in a weird, unprecedented time with the Corona-Quarantine. Social distancing, businesses closing their doors, others doing mandatory work from home practices, and everyone just in a weird state of unease. Like many others at the beginning, I had my moments of "naw, I'm going to still live my life! I'm going to (insert social activity here)!" And yes, I was upset knowing how many things I would have to postpone till sometime in the (hopefully) near future. But almost just as quickly, I shifted my thoughts from "what I can't do" to "what I can do." EVERYTHING IS ABOUT PERSPECTIVE!

That has been a big takeaway from my work with an old friend, now coach, Brian Drury. Through his program, Overcoming Graduation, I've worked a lot on reframing my mindset; focusing more on how I can get things done rather than reasons why I can't. So instead of thinking of all the things I can't do during this quarantine, I looked at this as "Hey! Now I finally have the time at home to work on my other projects!" All the things I've been pushing to the side because of my "lack of free time" is no longer an issue! One of those projects (you guessed it!) is getting back to writing.

Working For My Future

Another big thing I've been working on lately has been the million dollar question every young adult has been asked at least once in their lives: what is your dream job? After earning two degrees in college, working multiple jobs, and exploring different interests, I was honestly hard pressed to find an answer to that question. It was hard for me to nail down an exact answer considering everything that seemed like a "dream job" also seemed out of reach without investing A LOT of time and/or money to work towards and even then I'd need to be incredibly lucky for things to pan out. Lucky for me, and over the course of several sessions, I managed to think or some key values in myself that point me in the right direction.

No matter if I'm working with students on the mat at the martial arts school, posting my goofy antics in cosplay, or talking to people over drinks, I always want to accomplish two things: I want to entertain and I want to foster conversation. I want to be able to show someone a good time but also give them something to think about and remember for the next X amount of time. Even looking at the people I idolize like Kevin Smith, Sean Evans, and Chris Hardwick, all of them are master conversationalist. Instead of thinking "man I will never get to their level of success" I needed to look at their accomplishments are things to work towards. Step by step, inch by inch, putting in the time like I would with training or a new cosplay. And what better way to do that in my own way than with my writing?

What I Hope To Accomplish

To hark back to something in the last section, thoughts of me landing a writing job or anything in that field is a bit out of reach at the moment. Sure I have some experience interviewing and being a company representative at an event, but sadly those instances were four or five years ago. My most recent post on Vocal was two Walking Dead prediction/speculation articles and there were COMPLETELY wrong based on what has happened the past few seasons (spoilers). With that in mind, it wouldn't be great if I landed a job interview for a writing position to say "oh yeah... I just got lazy for half a decade BUT I WANT THIS JOB!"

So what I hope to do with this platform is a bit of a layered answer. For one thing, I want to buff up my portfolio once again with articles that are a much more update to date. Another is to get reps in like at the gym; a way to get my writing gears turning once again and slowly work back up to my better writing habits. But more importantly, I want to fall in love with writing again. I want to get back to a hobby that used to be on my mind constantly. I want to reignite that spark of creativity and take it in different directions that I hope people find interesting and will come along for the ride.

If you stuck it out till the end of this long winded rant, I appreciate your time! Whether this article gave you an idea of how to spend some quarantine time or motivated you to start that side project that's been on hold, I hope some of my rambling can serve as slight inspiration in some way. I'm looking to bring out more articles in the future with a much wider range than just what happened in a show or a movie breakdown. I go by jock_of_the_nerds on Instagram for the sake that I'm more than just one thing. Some people in my life only get to see one side of me and I would love to start showing all facets that make me who I am. But to end with a quote from one of my favorite shows (because... it is me after all) that has become a big mantra for me: "PITTER PATTER! LET'S GET AT 'ER!"