Few years ago I never thought I should showcase my writing on a blog. A little research online made me consider the idea but I was still not certain. One fine day I was reading and came across a quote that said we should work on ideas that come to us immediately, or at least develop a structure, because if we don’t, time will fly by in a blink, we may not have the same enthusiasm in the future, and the idea would fizzle out. So I put aside my doubts and thought to myself why not. I should start a blog and if I wasn’t happy with it I could always shut it down later. I had some content to begin with already. What followed next was unexpected in a wonderful way.

The inception

The same day I began in the morning, with a lot of googling and tinkering around WordPress I finally managed to start a blog. I knew it was going to be around books, poetry, art and my overall relationship with them so it wasn’t long before the name The Literary Affair struck me.

I began with analysis of books I’ve read and some poetry. It was thrilling to get my words online and have an audience. Blogging also meant building an online presence, discovering new things to learn everyday and figuring out what more I wanted to do in life.

Stories in the mundane

As we grow, our interests grow too and I wanted my blog to be something more. Hearing people’s stories, I felt I could share mine too- for me and to help someone out there as well. I began talking about topics close to me: my journey on a wheelchair, life learnings and such.

When we speak of a personal brand or what my blog stands for, few years ago I would have said creative writing but today it has evolved into,

‘finding stories worth telling in the mundane.’

These stories are life lessons that I observe from struggles, in overcoming them, or in the simple beauty of everyday nothings.

Writing. Everything. Down

The first lesson I learned that pushed me to start a blog about working on ideas as they come to me is something I take along with me even now. But with an added thought.

Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate said,

“Always carry a notebook. Write everything down… That is a million dollar lesson they don’t teach you.”

While I may not instantly write a blog post or paint a painting the moment I get an idea, I make sure I have either a notebook or a notepad on my phone with me no matter what am doing. Everything we do can be looked at as something creative, a tool to generate ideas. Whether am watching a movie, reading or just doing the dishes, when something comes to me, I make note of it to revisit later.

I ask what that particular observation teaches me and I discover a story in it. These ideas have become poems, articles, something for work, art, or even just a learning that I apply to work on some aspect of myself. Eventually this became a habit and has helped me understand myself better- negative patterns, positive qualities, things I need to improve, skills I could benefit from and so on.

For instance, recently I had gotten myself into a stressful incident and while my usual reaction would be to well… get stressed and go spiralling down before I finally learn something from it, this habit helped me skip the middle part and reach the learning bit sooner. And that day I found myself making notes mentally, forgetting stress. It was then it truly hit me how writing is helping me become a stronger person. Here’s the incident I am talking about:

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A post shared by Ｌｅｈａ ✨ (@literaryleha)

That’s why, time and again I’ve spoken about the power that lies in simply observing the mundane,

“If we can make the mundane feel exquisite, we’re more likely to always have appreciation for and find meaning in life.”

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The mundane is everywhere which means stories and life lessons are everywhere- books, movies, poems, art, the old mixer in the kitchen, people you know and don’t know, or simply the wall in front of your desk.

We only need to be present and look. And we will find stories worth telling in the mundane.

If there's anything that matters more than our story, it is what we're going to do about it and where we go from there.

— Ｌｅｈａ ✨ (@literaryleha) April 5, 2022

This article is part of Blogchatter’s Blog Hop.