The first line of this article wasn’t written until I had spent a few couple of hours listing reasons why I shouldn't start writing again. I told myself I won’t be able to manage time or find topics. I was scared I would experience writer’s block but then I realized that I was experiencing one right before I wrote this. Basically, anything and everything that would stop this article from being published was my ultimate goal behind writing it.

I was so determined not to write that I asked my Editor in Chief for an extension because I was swamped with work, which was an honest excuse... but the underlying truth? I was finding ways to postpone writing. And it’s funny that I’m actually trying to write an article out of why I should not have written this article or didn’t want to write it in the first place. Here’s why…..

If you stalk me on Facebook (which you shouldn’t) and scroll through my timeline, you’ll find a piece of writing published on August 31st, 2016. That was the last article I had written for Odyssey - in fact, the last one since 2016. For someone who loved writing, it’s a long enough period of time to make you forget why you love writing in the first place. And I wouldn’t blame an overload of work, my inability to manage time, or an unhealthy work/hobby balance because what good would that be?

The truth is, I complained, told myself I was too busy to write, too ignorant to read about topics I could address in my articles, too disinterested in sharing views, ideas and opinions with readers - hence the cycle of excuses. And because I did, I lost two years of potential to write amazing content and gain knowledge from sharing intriguing topics and ideas. Even more importantly, I lost two years of practicing one of the small rituals that made me feel content.

So, this article is not about why I should write, or my regrets at failing to write for two years. It is about why despite being scared to write after this long, I chose to do so. Sometimes you have to find your way back to the things you loved doing to be able to love the things you are doing at the moment.

It doesn't matter how small they may appear or how insignificant they might seem. If you care enough to start doing that one thing you thought you could never make time for, that one habit that you always wished you could start, that one book you always planned to read or that one place you always wanted to visit, or even that one friend you always wanted to tell how much you still miss them, you should stop making excuses and just do it.

Here’s to one of the many articles you will see on my timeline and one of the biggest excuses for me to start writing again.