How I shed: My writing journey so far

So one of Shalom Truths reader and a great supporter at that (Kehinde) has come to pull me out of my hole. I thought I could hide without being noticed. Since I have been spotted, I decided to show face. I have been summoned by the powers that be my readers.

The truth is I have been a bit busy with tidying up loose ends of the forthcoming edition. Having a preoccupied mind I have come to discover isn’t good for writing. Although, I have come to learn that at such times ‘shedding’ is necessary. It is a term that I believe is mostly used in relation to animals. Albeit, humans are also known to shed their skin and grow a new skin every month.

Now I am not so keen on Biology – my biology teacher would tell you that – hence the reason why I ran from studying Medicine not that I took particular interest in it in the first place. What always saved my Biology score was the fact that I could cram and also draw, so while I got ten or fifteen over thirty in the objective, my theory was covering up for me. That being said you should know by now that I am not talking about ‘shedding’ as it relates to Biology.

I have realized that there are times that you have to pull back and shed. I don’t like going through the motions and doing things automatically, I love being involved in what I do. From the onset I didn’t pick writing I always say, writing picked me and the moment I feel like I am drained by what I should be enjoying, I just pull back a bit and shed. Sometimes the process is easy, sometimes it is as painful as ripping off your skin (even if I don’t really know what that feels like).

This for me is nothing similar to a writer’s block. While a writer’s block is involuntary for me shedding is voluntary. I take the time to sit and think and shed any unwanted philosophy or ideologies I have gathered along the way. To check if the vision is still the same or taking a new bend. To take out time to realign myself and come back feeling brand new as I have a new skin.

I believe that even if you don’t take out days like me to re-access and re-evaluate, a couple of hours can be devoted to this process. In fact, you can carry on with your daily life but do not forget to always shed off excesses; negativity, depression, lost identity…These are things we will encounter along the way but we must always remember to shed them off. While a lot of people will say develop a tough skin, I say always shed it off. I don’t like the extreme measures people take to develop what we call a ‘tough skin’.

I for one enjoy the process of ‘shedding’ because I ask myself why am I doing what I am doing. Should in case I am doing it for the wrong reason, it’s time to shed. It is even a time to shed off things that are not working and make a come back.

My articles are not complete sometimes without me sharing examples of what I have experienced. Once when I had a writer’s block, I decided not to push it. I decided not to write, I was alarmed but I decided instead to replace my writer’s block with shedding. I also discovered that my personal prayer time was waving and I decided to focus on it, well the minute I did, guess who started writing again? Me of course! So for me, that just reminded me that I didn’t call myself to write. That one is another story for another day. So people like me that know we didn’t have the writing streak in us, we know we can’t leave our source or we just run dry.

So once in a while, I may be MIA (Missing in Action) but just remember I may have gone to shed.

I am happy to be back!

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