My first LinkedIn Article

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a writer.

Prior to that, I wanted to be like Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Luckily, there were no crocodiles in Romania while I was growing up (not sure of that as of now) so a bullet was dodged.

However, the one thing I could never shake was the fact that I always enjoyed stories, reading and anything that had to do with it. The first book that I vividly remember reading was "Legends of Olympus" and so the majority of my childhood was spent behind pages.

Whether I was bookish or otherwise, I felt a great sense of enjoyment whenever I could get my hands on something new to read.

As time went by, that level of reading subsided a bit, since life happens and your focus may shift a little depending on what you are doing at the time.

From a writing perspective, all that reading paid off, since from a grammar and vocabulary perspective, academically and professionally I was on point. I always made sure to accept if a phrase was deemed too pretentious or it seemed like the main idea was lost and adjust it if necessary.

The old adage of "Practice makes perfect" is more than applicable.

Putting in the work and being open for feedback are and should be the foundation for any writing endeavor, regardless of scale and purpose.

Professionally, I still have a lot to learn and room to practice, whether it's jotting down ideas or crafting a comprehensive e-mail or report.

However...

Writing in a professional capacity as opposed to writing as a hobby is a different kettle of fish.

From a professional viewpoint, we revert to the previous statement, "Practice makes perfect", underlining that the space and room you have to practice is there.

Sure, there will be challenges and moments where you are at loss of words, but from a 40 hour per week schedule perspective , you really don't have a choice but to make it work.

From a hobby or passion perspective, writing is equal parts romantic and dreadful.

The pressure of sitting in front of a blank screen or page and having written nothing is akin to being slow cooked .

The weight and intensity of your literary helplessness is, at most times, unbearable to go through.

Hence, distractions like brewing another coffee or suddenly going out to buy tomatoes because you are out of tomatoes become a sweet refuge.

Thousands of thoughts flood and when pen is put to paper, you can't help but feel a powerful sense of revulsion that compels to discard your writings once you are done.

For a long time I've struggled with this, I've become adept at finding new ways avoid it and deny it.

So I've decided to bite the bullet and start writing articles on LinkedIn.

In part, because the belief that I am writing in a professional capacity takes a bit of the pressure off and I also want to reach out to the community and see if there any interesting topics I can tackle.

In any case, if you've managed to get to this part and not be bored out of your mind I commend you for it and happy to welcome your suggestion.

Happy Writings

Cori