Three things I learned about writing this week

Every time I embark on a new project, I go through two key emotions: fear and happiness.

With fear, I become the ultimate risk manager and pessimist because I spell out and define and even live through all that is wrong about what I want to write about. On the other hand, the happiness is often well defined that I still have it, I can still write and that’s it.

I came back from a five day vacation at the Coast of Kenya and while walking along the shores of the Indian Ocean, my feet in the white sand as I sip coconut water.

I had to accept three things about writing and how I write and they are:

1. I am not like every other Writer and that is okay.
2. Writing is personal and there is nothing wrong about this.
3. Each project is different from the previous one. Just like the books I have written, each though written by the same author, explore different themes, different worlds and that is beautiful.

Now all I have to do next is actually follow through with this new project, set my schedule, write as much as I can and refine it with time.

Come into the light

I have always yearned for a space of my own. A place where my thoughts and opinions are interwoven using the words that only I can express best.

The first thought was of setting up a podcast. I created one but couldn’t go beyond three minutes listening to my voice, so that failed because I did not fully commit to it.

I tried with Medium and posted three opinion pieces and got at least 30 claps for one, 11 likes for another and gave up because the grand stage of adoration was clearly not my spot.

So, when I was working late into the night this month, I said, why not. I am on the cusp of youth, because 34 is just months away from 35 and by legal standards, I would not be labelled as young anymore- so I got up the next morning and set up this blog.

Achieng’ is my middle name. It is a Luo name assigned to girls who are born when the sun is up in the sky.

So, I decided if I am going to step into my own, and finally set free these opinions into a world full of them, then I could as well do so in honor of who I am.

Asante,

Achieng’.