An Accidental Lesson

So before I even get started writing this blog post, I think I should acknowledge the elephant in the room, so to speak. We all know it’s there. In fact, a few of you have even mentioned it.  You tell me, “Kayla, you haven’t written a blog post in a loooonnnggg time!” And I agree. It’s been a while. It’s been months. And in this day and age of constant media stream, filled with ever-changing new and exciting posts, tweets, and shares - a neglected blog is almost offensive. There are rules about these things you know. You must write entertaining media to engage your audience. You must build your audience and pay attention to your views and all other important related statistics and numbers. And above all, you must never leave an audience member bored.

In fact, that’s all that our current day media has become – a constant stream of entertainment. 

Audiences nowadays don’t shout out for good literature or deeply thought out concepts. No. Our 21^st century audience raises their fist to the sky in outrage, demanding to be entertained.

But let me set something straight. My blog is a different kind of blog.

While my absence from this forum may have been accidental, due to school, internships, and ministry work galore, it has become so much more than an accident. It has become an opportunity to learn and to ponder what really matters.

I have had a list in mind of possible blog posts I’ve wanted to write for months. Every week I came up with a new one. My fingers itched to click against this keyboard once again. And with that itch also came the nagging pull of guilt in my heart that I was letting my readers down. I was not doing my proper duty as a blogger. I was not entertaining you and I was not being consistent.

This guilt bothered me for months. And even when I knew there were so many reasons why I could do nothing about the fact that school and work came first on my priority list, I still got weighed down by it. But this constant tug only brought me to ponder a very valuable lesson.

I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world. There are “cheap” people, and there are “quality” people, for lack of a better word. Each day people have choices to make that effect their lives and their legacy. The vast majority of people end up compromising on their values, goals, and endeavors because the world constantly pressures them to fit in, to be realistic, and to take the easy route. These are the “cheap” people. However, there is always the few that stick to the hard road and find greater depth and value in a life that was hard earned. These are the people that end up in our history books and our top ten list of heroes. Martin Luther. Martin Luther King Jr. C.S. Lewis. Jane Austen. Albert Einstein. Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus.                                  Just think about it.

And while I could go on and on about this core idea, I wanted to take it a step further. I wanted to bring it down to Earth even more. I wanted to apply it to media. I wanted to talk about my blog.

You see, as I thought about that concept of “cheap” versus “quality” one night I realized something. I did not create this blog to be cheap. I never intended to impress an audience. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

When I sit down to write a blog post, I am not doing it to increase my numbers. I don’t ask what the people want. Because as counter cultural as it is, my blog ain’t about the people at all. I don’t write for an audience. When I sit down to write a post, I do it for the sheer purpose of putting words on a page in what might one day be a masterpiece. I write solely to write. That is all. And I pray that somehow God would use my words to touch you in some way and work in your own hearts and lives. But once you start to write for an audience, you start to write cheaply.

I am aware that this is a concept many may disagree with me on, but just stick with me for a moment.

When was the last time you finished reading a classic novel and said, “Wow - that was extremely entertaining”? I know those are never the first words that come out of my mouth. But we often don’t complain. We don’t compare Spiderman comics with Les Miserables because we understand that they are different. Comics are written to entertain. Classic literature was written for an entirely different purpose. Classic authors never started a novel asking the question, “what do the people want to read?”. They more likely started with a question similar to, “what do I feel must be written?”.

And that is the difference between my blog and other media online these days.

My blog posts are long and do not come in convenient, abridged, easy-to-read packages. I’m not sorry.

My blog posts are written inconsistently, sometimes with weeks or months in between. I’m not sorry.

My blog posts are not written to be what you want to read. They are written to be what must be written. And guess what! I’m not sorry.

I choose to walk in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis rather than in the footprints of Buzzfeed editors. And I’m not sorry.

If you want a quick fix of entertainment, don’t come here.

As a dear friend of mine has said, “I am not here to feed you. I am here to teach you to fish.”

I, as a person and a writer, am called to a greater purpose and have chosen to walk the path less traveled. And as much as I wanted to inform you as an audience that I have decided to stand up against the “cheap” culture of our 21^st century media, I also want to turn my attention to you, dear friend. May I ask you to ponder one simple question? Whether for your own sake, or merely for mine, in hopes that it would make you stop your everyday routine and truly question which path you travel?

Which kind of person are you?