It's been six months since I started my Odyssey journey. I went back and read my first article, which allowed me to reflect on how I've changed in a short six months.

To quote myself:

"I joined Odyssey because I want to share my voice. I am blessed to have wonderful people in my life who will listen to me. Still, I feel trapped in my thoughts at times, and want to reach out to a greater audience, to others who maybe are feeling the same way about a topic as I am. If I can make at least one person think “Wow. I never thought about it that way.” or “I totally get that”, then, to me, I’ve achieved what I came here for."

I think that paragraph accurately represents what it means for me to be a writer for Odyssey, and the influence I hope to have on others in writing my articles.

Still, I think that over the past six months, I've learned, that greater than writing to impact others, my writing has been a means of connecting to myself.

I'll be honest, there are some articles that I have written in the hopes of finding praise, of getting that positive feedback of "Sam, that was great!" or "You're so inspirational!". I think it's important to admit this and recognize that I still have work to do on my journey of not doing things for the approval of others.

I have always been the type of person to put pressure on myself to be perfect and portray myself a certain way, which is why I think some of my articles were written with that motive: when people tell you they enjoy your writing, you don't want to let them down, you want to live up to their expectations.

You begin to question the content of what you're writing and whether or not it's on par with what you've written in the past.

However, I've found that with time, I've been able to shift that mindset, and have begun writing for myself. Sometimes the weekly deadline is hard to meet because all of my articles help me process and connect with things that are going on in my life. You'll find that many of my articles start with an anecdote about something that happened to me in the past week. I find it hard to write about random topics because writing, to me, is all about relatability and connection.

The essence of one's writing lies in one's heart.

So much of my writing is based on feeling, and I hope this is something that is expressed to my readers.

It can be difficult to reflect on things related to my life, but it's worth it. A couple of weeks ago, when asking some friends for advice, one of them told me to "write about it! It'll help you process things." And she is so right.

Writing is a means for me to grow from experiences in my life.

In so many cases over the past six months, what I've written has allowed me to move past issues I've been dealing with, or at least reflect on something I've been thinking about in a greater manner.

I am so grateful to have had Odyssey. I've learned to become more aware of my feelings. I've learned to constantly search for inspiration around me, and the result itself has been inspiring:

I've realized that the people I surround myself and those I love have so many valuable lessons to teach me.

So, why write? Write to process. Write to express. Write to connect. Write to find greater meaning in the world around you. Write to question. But most of all,write for yourself.

I will continue to use my writing as a means to make sense of the world and my life, and I urge you all to do the same.

Nothing makes me happier when people reach out after they read something I've written and tell me how it resonates with them.

Those moments give me perspective into how when my writing is based in a connection to myself, the connection with others naturally follows.

It's crazy how easy it is to find this connection without even trying. That, to me, is the beauty of writing.

Whether you've been following along my Odyssey journey since article one, or just stop by to read from time to time, thank you for reading what I have to say. You give my voice power, and I appreciate that so much.

Talk soon,

Sam