At age 15 I started a new journal when I traveled to Germany for the first time. I wanted to write more about my feelings being away from home, the struggle I had with my first host family, and the weird newness of German culture. However, I once again worried about my writing falling into the wrong hands. I stuck to the basics of where I was and who I was with, and the format did not suit me. After two weeks I gave up my journal, and I gave up any form of consistent writing until I was 21.

When emails started to be widely used, I started to use technology to reconnect with people who had moved away. I found old friends and started writing long stories about what everyone had missed in my life. I included both funny and sad content like my travels or my childhood dog passing away.  Although the messages seemed excessive compared to the to-the-point responses I received, I learned to organize my thoughts, to carefully insert supplemental information, and to strategically omit unnecessary details. 

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When I was 26 I moved to Germany for 5 years and had some of the most interesting experiences of my life. This life segment was also, at times, quite challenging for me to navigate for a lot of reasons. As a way to deal with some of the stress and the difficulties coping with change, I once again picked up writing as a tool for me to express my fears, frustrations, and goals. After a collection of writings accumulated, I toyed with the idea of a book about an American in Germany. Unfortunately, I never felt confident enough to follow through.

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My next attempt to make writing a profitable side gig was in graduate school. I started blogging about random, daily things (although not publicly) and before I knew it, my obligatory university writing assignments took centerstage and forced me to put a lot on hold. Every now and then I would write a little just to process an event or to experiment with words in a way that was typically frowned upon in the academic world. And even when I wasn't writing things down, I was writing in my head. My thoughts were still processed in words for a potential audience, just getting ready for that moment to let it all spill out.

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Although I never discarded any of the old writings and the ideas of a book, I was constantly refocusing on a new project. As I had become more heavily involved in animal rescue, I began dealing with new stress triggers and a slew of jaw-dropping stories that are both heartwarming and gut-wrenchingly devastating. I was running social media accounts for a couple of local rescues and was able to catapult each organization into the spotlight through my writing. There are a lot tear jerkers in the rescue world, and I was able to put the joyous and painful moments into words that the community could see. The aspect that was missing from each of my posts, was the personal side of the grueling work that often overshadowed the demand of my day job. I had so much more to say than a Facebook post would allow. I thought: THIS needs to be a book. And so began a collection of new stories and the desire to turn my rescue life into a book that people want to read. By the way, that is key. Anyone can write a book. Only some authors are lucky enough to write a book that appeals to a larger audience. This book has been pushed to the backburner, but it is still a story I want to tell when the time is right.

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Once again life shifted, and as a result, so did my writing. I had new content and a new excitement. In fact, I had more excitement than I had ever had, and for the first time, I also had support. Because I hated to share my own writing with others, I never knew that I could actually write. I had always thought that it was a helpful tool for processing life for me, but I learned that it was also helpful for others to read. Remember those emails I used to write? I found out years later that people actually loved reading them for their content and their style. Little by little my confidence grew. Then, in a call with my insurance agent and trying to figure out my loose ends in Indiana and my new life in Georgia, she laughed and said, "Your life is interesting." I told her about wanting a new book project, and she told me that if I wrote a book about my new life, she would be the first to read it. Aaliyah, thank you for this last push.

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The following posts are a mix of modified excerpts from the forthcoming book, isolated thoughts about life, and older memories or experiences. I had no idea that I would ever be so brave to share my life so openly, but being able to put my life into a written form is exhilarating!