The freedom to express...

This is the first article that I am writing on a digital platform. Writing has been my favorite mode of expression since childhood. I discovered this inclination while preparing for an exam, back in fourth grade. I was too tired to read further that I began writing my heart out. A few words later and a few phrases after, I figured that I had created a poem. Thereafter, I continued to write occasionally but, only to tie my words in a rhyme. I had become the youngest poet in the family. It felt exciting and motivating to hear praise worthy words from people around. My father, in full stride to support and encourage me, got a collection of about ten of my poems published. It was indeed a special feeling, to introduce to my friends, teachers, and family, my first published work – ‘My First Ten’. With increasing load of academics, the frequency of my writing reduced greatly. But whenever I did write, it was only to create a rhyming piece of work. I did not realize that I was not creating from my heart anymore. I was only writing to please others. I was only writing to create something that could be accepted as a ‘poem’, since I was the newly established poet among family and friends. I had begun to write only within unseen, untold, but self-imposed restrictions. It was not a creation anymore…

…fast forward to post graduation days! I got the opportunity to study the best course at one of the most prestigious and sought-after institutions of the nation – Christ University, Bangalore. It provided me the prospect of reflective writing. It exposed me to the world of scientific research and writing, which I thoroughly enjoyed while learning. Research work intrigued me, irked me, challenged me, and pushed me to the limits, but also brought out the best in me. Thus, I began enjoying research writing. I would often get compliments for my expression of writing. To my surprise, it equipped me with the skill of typing on my laptop without even looking at the keypad. The process of writing was tiresome but beneficial at the same time. Thesis writing was a compulsory task to complete the degree. I grasped it with high hopes and deep interest. With all the formats, rules and pre-requisites of scientific writing, it was definitely the most challenging experience of my life. It gave me a lot of learnings, about myself and life as well. But it left me at exactly the same position that I was at, as a child. I again found myself writing restrictively, within the scientific limits, which would often prevent me from freely expressing my views. In addition, what really shook me was a rejection of my review article from a scientific journal. I tried again, got rejected again! Followed all formats and rules of scientific writing, tried again, got rejected again! Continued to do that for an entire year, to understand where I was going wrong. But, couldn’t figure out until one of my research guides and mentor, identified that my writing style was quite literary, as opposed to scientific.

I realized I was not meant for scientific writing because I could not limit my expression of thoughts to the specifications that a scientific article would require. I was quite disappointed. For a long time, I thought I could not put my skill of writing to any use. Honestly, I was dejected. Meanwhile, I continued to search for various writing platforms, which would allow me to express through free writing and talk about sensitive issues like mental health. I could not find even one platform that would not measure my written pieces in terms of the citations added to it, its scientific accuracy, or relevance in the scientific world. I could not find one platform that would allow my piece to be read as a meaningful content coming from a responsible human writer for a human reader, irrespective of the qualification and field of work of both parties. This was my experience until I found the option of ‘Article’ on the homepage of my LinkedIn profile. I explored and discovered that it allows the author to write and publish their content responsibly and freely at the same time, by providing no restriction regarding the type of piece that could be published. It allows your content to be about anecdotes, insights, experiences, opinions, advices, awareness, and even something as simple as one’s own thoughts. What could be a better space than this, which allows me to publish my work and not judge it or prevent it from reaching the masses only because it doesn’t fit a specific frame!?

Hence, I am grateful to LinkedIn, thrilled for myself, and delighted to announce that I have found the platform to responsibly practice my freedom of expression via my newsletter or as I like to call it, 'Expressionletter': AWARENESS WEEKLY!

See you on the other day, another week!