Today’s society pits us against each other, acting like the very act of living is a competition. They have convinced you that you have to pursue the title of “The Best.” They’ve taught you that you must work harder to beat everyone else out, including your friends and family, while you act coy and pretend like you aren’t looking to push them out of the ring. “Get better so you can become the best.” They never shut up.
And I’m sick of it.
When I took this job as a content creator at Odyssey, I was really excited about the opportunity to have my writing shared on a public, online platform that could be read by the millions of internet users that call this ever-expanding network their home throughout the course of a day. My thoughts, my opinions, and my feelings and experiences would finally have a platform to shout off of. Even thinking about the possibility that I could have written an article from my home in Bad Axe, Michigan, that was then read in someone else’s home in, say, Tokyo, is an amazing feeling.
What I didn’t know is that even in an online writing space that prides itself on free speech, allowing its writers to talk about whatever they want, whenever they want, it too is a breeding ground for competition. Although I’m not sure how much I can really say on the subject, I’m going to say it anyway. After all, there are no limits to what we writers can discuss (if it’s not hate-speech toward other persons).
Odyssey presents its writers with a monetary incentive every week. Whoever’s article is the most read, shared, etc., they win this little gift. I was joining Odyssey with the idea that I was also joining a huge community of writers who are just there to do the same thing I was – simply putting their words out into the world without want of any treats or rewards. The thrill of expressing yourself simply by typing words on a page for people to read is enough for me, and I thought that those I would be typing alongside would feel the same way.
Although I’m sure not everyone, and maybe not even most everyone, who is a content creator at Odyssey is in it for the money, you cannot deny the presence of competition bred by this monetary reward. Instead of writing for the sake of writing, writers are inevitably consumed by this desire to win. Unfortunately, this causes writers to spend too long debating what events to write about because they are torn between writing an article that is fluffy, light and palatable to a general audience in order to win the prize or writing about something they may be really passionate about knowing that it will not get as much attention and, therefore, will not win.
I myself face this dilemma every single week. The human nature in me, combined with my status as a college student with a small bank account, sits on my shoulder and tells me that I should just write about things that everyone likes. “Write about friendship,” it says. “Write about puppies or summer fun. Anything that will get a lot of people talking.” On my other shoulder sits my passion. It reminds me that I didn’t join this organization for the likes. “Write about what matters,” it says, “even if it means your work isn’t as liked.”
I am not here to please you, to make you feel good or to tell you that everything is sunshine and rainbows and you should never worry about anything ever again. I am not here to distract you from the chaos of this life by flooding your internet feeds with articles about baby animals and feel-good topics. I am here to be as brutally honest as I can be with you. I am here to remind you that the world is falling apart. I am here to say, “HELLO?! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! WE. NEED. HELP.”
I am here to write about what matters.
Deciding what to write for my first article was a challenge because I told myself I should write about nice things in the beginning of my content creator career. I told myself that I needed to reign in the multitudes and establish my ground as an online writer. I knew that the only way to do so would be to write about fun things like my class trip to Chicago (my very first article). The desire to be liked, since I had only just been hired, took over my writing ideas. In the back of my mind, my passion for social justice and real-world issues took a seat and cried. Writing to be popular wasn’t what I joined Odyssey for. What was I doing?
Two weeks ago, I decided that enough was enough. No longer would I write to please the diverse audience that is the internet community. I would write to shake you, wake you and direct your attention to the many issues our world is facing. My article that week was “Why ‘A’ For ‘Ally’ Should Be Dropped,” and incredibly enough, it was the most read article of the week for my school. This article was all about how Allies do not have a right to include themselves in the LGBTQ+ acronym because the LGBTQ+ community is not about us. I couldn’t believe that my decision to finally write about something I cared about was what brought in readers. People were commenting on my article share on Facebook, thanking me for writing about something relevant. I was overwhelmed as I realized that this was proof that writing about what matters is what I am meant to do. It was confirmation that people want to hear the truth. They want to read about the blood, sweat, and tears of our world, and I broke down and cried.
That week I made the commitment to write about what matters. I decided I would write about the truth, regardless of how many reads my articles got or whether you liked it or not. This is my promise to you – I will never write for popularity or approval. I will never write fluffy pieces. I will tell you the truth. I will deliver my honest thoughts and opinions because you deserve someone who will tell you like it is, not someone who will sugar-coat it for you or distract you from what’s going on.
I will follow my passion and seek the truth, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to read my work. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the fame. It’s about being real with you, and that’s what I forever promise to do.
