Blogging and writing shouldn’t be just about talking about what you did today, or rambling about things in general — at least, not in my mind, not if it’s done well.
It should be about creating something new, giving birth to something of beauty, of inspiration, of joy, of wonder, of laughter, of wisdom.
Or at least, that’s what we should strive for, and in failing, we will have learned something and perhaps others will learn in our attempt as well.
I’d like to share with you, as an example, a couple of things I’ve created in the last two weeks:
- A new blog on minimalism called mnmlist.com
- A new ebook on the same topic: The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life
Minimalism is something I’m passionate about, and I love reading things about minimalism — unfortunately, there isn’t much out there on the topic. So I decided to create it myself.
In a couple days, I created mnmlist.com, buying the domain, setting up WordPress, creating my own mininmalist WordPress theme (which is available free), and writing a bunch of posts. I launched the site on Twitter and then Zen Habits, and within a few days had a thousand subscribers.
In the meantime, I wrote an ebook and then designed it myself, trying to keep the design pretty sparse. It took me a couple of weeks, as I was also writing Zen Habits and posts for mnmlist.com. I released the ebook a couple days ago, and it’s been downloaded many times.
None of this is to brag, but to share my story of bringing something new into the world. It was an exhilarating process, this creating, and one that consumed and excited me so that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning.
And when I shared it, people were enthusiastic. They were looking for this — it’s something they needed in their lives, and I’d made something that helped. That’s an amazing feeling.
Creating something new, something that people are looking for and will find useful, beautiful, inspiring … this is something that can fill your life with purpose, with joy, with passion. You don’t need to find motivation to write or create if you’re this excited.
As my story above shows, it doesn’t have to be difficult to create something new — you can do it in a day or two, or a week, if you keep things simple. And it doesn’t have to be a brand-new invention, something people have never seen before. It can just be an addition to what’s already out there, your take on things, something people want, something you’d like to see. What would you love to read? What do you need in your life? Create that!
Create something new, and the world wins. And so do you.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
