As I sat down to write my Odyssey article for today, a number of different ideas crossed for my head:
Do I write about Customs, Haverford's orientation program, to express how excited I am to welcome the next round of first year students to our incredible community? Do I write about the hectic time that is move in, the up-and-down, side-to-side rhythmic twists and turns that accompany taking a drab dorm room and making it home? Do I write about how it really stinks to be short when you just really, really want to reach the top shelf and put your stuff where it belongs or to be told just for once that you actually look like you're 20 years old? Or do I write about some combination of the three, intermingling GIFs courtesy of giphy.com, hoping, praying, imploring that maybe -- just maybe -- this time, I might hit the nail on the head and conquer that relatable vibe that propelled my article to "viral" status?
All of these thoughts racing through my mind, I sat before an empty screen, tapping my fingers, twiddling my thumbs, exhausted and residually sweaty from the heat of the day, trying to make sense of some of it, to reach into the furthest depths of my soul and uncover the hidden meaning behind my latest Odyssey article. My fingers, greased with moisture from the humid air, lingered on the keyboard, reflecting the confusion that confounded my brain and left me frozen.
And then, sitting stupefied, my finger, making its sole move, slipped, and I, the flabberghasted Odyssey author screaming internally, watched as the empty screen before me faded to a list of all of my prior posts. There, on top, was one, new post demarcated as a "draft" -- that blank work space that had disappeared right before my eyes -- and entitled "untitled."
That was when I knew. When I knew that I just had to fill the space. When I knew that I just had to reach 400 words. When I knew that I, the Odyssey writer who felt she was running out of material since starting in August a year earlier, could write. This. Article.