{"id":323,"date":"2015-10-15T20:07:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T20:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/?p=323"},"modified":"2015-10-15T20:07:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-15T20:07:12","slug":"what-have-i-learned-in-the-last-15-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/?p=323","title":{"rendered":"What Have I Learned in the Last 15 Days?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So it’s day 15 in my 31 day challenge.\u00a0 To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d still be writing.\u00a0 I thought I’d run out of things to say or that the fullness of life would become my excuse to \"th<\/a>quit.\u00a0 I’m glad I’ve hung in.\u00a0 And I’m thankful that you’ve hung in with me!<\/p>\n

So I want to tell you what I’ve learned these past 15 days.<\/p>\n

Writing is a\u00a0positive way to do something with all the thoughts that seem to infiltrate and swirl around in my head.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like to think about things.\u00a0 I like to ask questions and solve problems.\u00a0 I like to understand what motivates me and others.\u00a0 And I’m fascinated with human behavior.\u00a0 But all of that can make me a little crazy.\u00a0 I can sometimes spend too much time overthinking things and situations.\u00a0 Writing allows me to formulate clear, concise thoughts about what I’m pondering.\u00a0 It helps me clarify what I’m thinking and feeling, and allows me to see what God’s trying to teach me.\u00a0 After I type it all up, I find myself feeling lighter and a little more clear headed.<\/p>\n

Writing, although tough sometimes, makes me feel more alive.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve found that writing is a very emotional process for me because I’m sharing an intimate part of myself.\u00a0 There are some things that I write about that leave me feeling very exposed and vulnerable.\u00a0 Yet, I feel more alive when I do.\u00a0 It helps me connect to those common human elements that we all share.\u00a0 And it makes me feel brave and courageous!<\/p>\n

Being honest and vulnerable is scary, but worth it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I write and then publish something that exposes a part of my heart, I feel the anxiety rising in my body.\u00a0 I have an intense desire to take back what I’ve already put out for others to read.\u00a0What will\u00a0they think?\u00a0 Will\u00a0they really understand\u00a0what I’m trying to say?\u00a0 What will they think of me?\u00a0 What if they hate it or think I’m weird? \u00a0I have to remind myself that it’s worth the risk, no matter what the reaction.\u00a0 The amazing thing is, some people connect with my writing.\u00a0 And it’s that connection that brings satisfaction; knowing that I’m not alone or that\u00a0I’ve struck a nerve.\u00a0 That makes it worth the risk.<\/p>\n

So I’m learning to let\u00a0go of worrying about other’s reactions and just write.\u00a0 I’m learning how to share honestly and thoughtfully which means I’m learning more about myself.\u00a0 (Sometimes that’s a difficult thing.)\u00a0 And I’m learning that God really did create me to\u00a0communicate through writing and speaking.\u00a0 So I better stick with it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So it’s day 15 in my 31 day challenge.\u00a0 To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d still be writing.\u00a0 I thought I’d run out of things to say or that the fullness of life would become my excuse to quit.\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/th-3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions\/327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.karen-gustafson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}