After my previous article regarding keloids was posted I received a tremendous amount of support and positive feedback. It makes me so happy to know that people are both reading my story, and are influenced by it-even if it is only a tad bit.

One comment, in particular, caught my attention as I filtered through the endless love. It was in the form of a text sent by a close friend expressing how she was not fond of reading, but my work really touched her heart.

In turn, I was extremely humbled to know that I could catch the attention of people not fond of reading, but I was also, I am also, grateful for her comment because as a writer-in-progress it truly does help me continue to move forward.

I like to view life as a map complete with veiny lines, and endless possibilities. One in which you could set a destination and follow the track to it, but you could also stop along the way at a small-town gas station playing songs from a time long forgotten.

In the midst of eating a Danish that is probably expired –but what the heck– you realize that your destination has changed, and it makes you a bit queasy, although to be fair, it could also be the expired Danish.

Life is like that, well mine is, it keeps following a map without one set destination, and somewhere along the way, I stop at a place encouraging me to write. I stay there for a while browsing the shelves, stopping at various artery-clogging snacks, and gazing around the candy you can’t seem to find anywhere else.

This is a hypothetical scenario, but one that I am all too familiar with. It is a scenario of familiar uncertainty.

Often times, changing paths in life, or striving to find confidence outside your sphere of comfort is something that is extremely daunting. I am constantly haunted by the “what-ifs,” and writing is an excellent outlet for the beginning of that process. Writing solidifies what is unknown.

Finding the right words to say, is every bit as important as saying them. Meaning these words is just as important, and so I take every comment, and every bit of feedback into consideration when I move forward.

Although I mainly write because it is something I love to do, it makes all the difference in the world to know that other people enjoy reading my work. My friend jokingly asked, “so how are you even going to top this article,” and to that, I answer, “By not counting the amount of likes or shares I get on it.”

On this roadmap of life, my end goal is not a set number of people reading my work, but rather it is in the little bursts of encouragement along the way.

One of my works may be liked, more related to than another, and it may harbor more love in that sense, but that makes me all the more pleased to know that my story can provide more confidence to those in need.

I am certainly not alone on my trip towards confidence, and happiness, and to everyone that sent me positive messages along the way you all act as my catalysts.

It makes me overjoyed to view life as an adventure, and the best way to enjoy it is if I know I am helping others out in the process, and to those of you who are hesitating to write your thoughts out to writers, or artists, or anyone producing any sort of work-let them know that you relate.

Robert Frost states, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader,” so to everyone reading my works, let me know how you feel about it. I am so thankful for everyone’s feedback, and I felt it was necessary to emphasize just how much.