It’s hard to start a blog when you’re not a writer.  

Rachael asked me about endeavoring on a new adventure: starting a blog.  She thought it would be something cool to do together and felt we had a lot to say.  We’re both powerful, bad ass women who have thoughts and ideas that typically resonate with the people we meet.  We both run non profits that help the planet or the people in it.  And both of us are college educated and can formulate sentences.  I’m pretty sure none of which is required to purchase a domain and start a blog.  

Having something to share with the world created by me and my best friend was an intriguing thought.  We went back and forth with ideas for content.  Do we have stories people want to hear?  I barely journal.  Can I really be trusted to write a blog?  What if my writing sucks?  What if my opinions prevent me from getting the kinds of jobs I may want in the future?  All thoughts and questions we posed as we hiked six miles down to our campsite.  Because the best ideas come when you’re mentally and physically exhausted from a literal uphill battle to South Rim in Big Bend National Park.  “We can set one [website] up and practice writing.  Keep each other accountable and throw our shitty first drafts up before we publish,” she said in so many words.  This is where the light bulb went off.

As a means of dissuading ourselves from perfectionism, Rach and I thrusted toward a journey of self discovery, acceptance, accountability and ultimately radical self love.  We’ve been practicing the art of not giving a fuck and finding we still have value + worth in moments where we are less productive, imperfect, and still learning.  On this path we learned that the final product isn’t quite the point and certainly not where the growth happens.  The fun is in the mess: the writing, collaborating, failing, striving, and inventing + reinventing.  

Our friend Joel Hilchey, spirited speaker and expert coach, encourages us to create often and in various ways.  Write things down, put ideas on post its, make lists, organize said lists.  He’s a champion of rapid prototyping which comes from his background in engineering.  Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly.  In his book Brainsprouting Joel explains that the goal of rapid prototyping is to generate ideas, select one solution quickly, test a prototype to learn what works and what doesn’t, and then repeat this process as many times as possible before the due date.  He also referred to some of these prototypes as shitty first drafts. 

“Orrrrr…” I responded to her, “We can say screw perfectionism and call it Shitty First Drafts.  We’ll publish what’s real, not what’s edited.”  You should have heard the octaves we were speaking at.  We loved the idea that this project could mirror what we believe personally.  That this undertaking could simply be another way to connect with other people by being real.  Giddy with excitement we vowed that the material we posted on the site would be unscripted, unedited, and unembellished.  First drafts of our stories (maybe second or third depending on our varying levels of insecurity that day).  Some will be short.  Others might be wordy.  To keep it interesting we’ll throw up some videos.  We’re not accomplished writers and that’s what we like about it.  This blog, like our journey to authenticity and self love, is just a series of first drafts that we are prototyping rapidly.