One year ago, I was that girl hesitant to share her writing with anyone.

On February 22, 2017, I posted my first article entitled Why I Don't Hate Winter.

It was terrifying, and actually still is, to click the "Submit For Editing" button every week. But like any repeated exercise, it gets easier over time. I have learned courage and resiliency through this weekly discipline and through the support of family and friends. No matter how many times I have wanted to quit, I keep submitting articles.

Some weeks I am immensely proud and excited for what I have created, especially when the words flow right out of my mind onto the page or screen. Those are the rewarding moments as a writer, when I fall in love with my orchestration of single words into something greater than the sum of their parts.

But there are many other times when I struggle to produce words or worry about what my readers will think or just don't feel like writing. I'm glad for the struggle. I'm grateful that my Odyssey page is a conglomerate of the good and bad of my life, and that there is still hope for even the bad pieces to touch readers. If just one person is moved by what I have written, then all the fifty-some pieces are worthwhile.

For me, posting my writing on the Internet is like, in Emily Dickinson's words, printing a piece of my soul. It feels like sacrifice. It's like pouring out my lifeblood or revealing my innermost parts when I want to keep all of me to myself.

Publishing my written work, I've grown to see, is a great discipline for this hesitant soul that the world often misses the chance to know.