I am just what the title says: an open book. Writing for the Odyssey has given me the privilege to share my highs and lows on a nationally published bases. How many people get to do that? With that being said..

I am real.

I enjoy writing what I go through, because it is completely normal to experience highs and lows through out your life, because if you don't, are you even living?

I am raw.

I tell it like it is. One of my previous articles caught a lot of backlash for me expressing my feelings, but it is completely normal to experience feelings; it's one of the beautifully painful benefits of being alive. By speaking without a filter, I tell people a lot of things that they don't want to know. It's just how I am. I put my heart out in the open for the whole public to read in hopes that someone can not only relate, but maybe someone's confidence can be restored after a heartbreaking event, or they can realize they aren't on this journey alone. Everyone experiences pain, just not everyone talks about their pain.

A part of being an open book is showing the good and the bad, but these days no one talks about the bad publicly; everyone wants to be living the picture perfect life. I'm here to tell you, no one has 365 good days other than Jesus. With bad comes good, with good comes the bad, not necessarily in the same situation but not everything is always going to go your way. For me, my escape is writing. Most my friends read my articles and are surprised by the things I put out, because I don't like to express my feelings, but feelings are normal. Being happy is normal, don't take it for granted when you are. Being sad is normal, don't be afraid to cry or in my case scream.

Be thankful that you are living the ups and downs... no matter how high or low.