I’m a writer and as I approach my one-year anniversary being the Editor and Chief for Macomb’s Odyssey I’ve began to assess and look back at all the articles I have written. Some I’ve written sent positive messages. Some articles other people may have taken the wrong way. However, positive or negative, the article was one hundred percent personal and real.

I don’t ever want anyone to think I wrote an article about them because my goal was for them to see it, because that isn’t the goal. When I first agreed to be the Editor and Chief I agreed to be a leader and an example to my team. By doing this I made a promise to myself to not hold anything back. I promised I wouldn’t not write something in fear of the person it’s centered around to read it. My reasoning behind that is because I believe words are powerful. I have this amazing platform with Odyssey where I can write about my experiences in hope that it will help someone else going through something similar. They may not have the power to speak up, but I can and I will for them.

This article is no different. I may have blocked the negative from my life, literally, but in this not-so-small town, people talk. Screenshots go a long way. Once again, words are powerful. Not their words, but mine. I could sit down with every person I’ve written an article about, whether it be good or bad, but they may not listen to the words I physically speak. If I believed they were actually capable of listening I would sit down with them face to face and talk because I stand behind what I write. However, some people aren’t good listeners. This meaning they hear one thing and automatically begin thinking about how they will respond or retaliate, ignoring the rest of what you’re trying to say. When you write it out or in my case type it out, they don’t have the chance to ignore any aspect of what you are trying so desperately to say. They are then forced by having no choice but to read and think about what those words really mean in an article.

I have so much love for so many people in my life. I even have love for those strangers who I’m a voice for. When someone emails me thanking me for what I’ve said, it makes everything worth it to me. It makes me being vulnerable by voicing my opinion based on my own experiences and feelings worth it. I don’t care what people think about me when I write an article about them. It doesn’t even cross my mind that my article would actually get back to them. What crosses my mind is that one person, who I may not even know, that doesn’t have the courage to stand up and publish something good or bad about someone who is in or was a part of their lives. I don’t think that makes me a coward, I think it makes me strong and voice for not just me but others.

So if you think an article I have written was about you, you’re probably right. Just don’t flatter yourself by thinking I wanted you to see it if it was bad. If it was good, well I’m contradicting myself by writing this, but I probably did want you to see it and may have actually sent it to you. The moral of the story behind a decent amount of my past articles is that if you came into my life at any point it was for a reason, you were either a blessing or a lesson, and with Odyssey I will share that blessing or lesson. I will never be silenced.