I thought this week I’d write about my journey into writing.
The truth is, I have always loved to write. It was one of the things I did best all through school, the one skill I actually had. I was never a great student, and never really gave school all of my effort.
Teenage me had a lot going on. I was the disabled, chubby, alternative looking kid in a teeny tiny Manitoba farm town. I felt so out of place in the world, never popular, often left out; but I’m sure many of us also felt that way to some extent.
So, when it came to writing, I had finally found something I excelled at, but I didn’t want to like it. People told me all the time that I should be a writer, or a radio host, and I had actually grown to hate it. Though deep down I knew they meant well, I hated the implication that because of my disability, those were the only two things people could see me as.
Then I had this one English teacher in Grade 9 that was tough as nails and most of the kids ware totally afraid of. She was four-foot-eight and Scottish; she had a domineering, take no prisoners' attitude. She took a shine to me early, noticed my talent, and encouraged me continuously. Furthermore, she saw my writing as a real skill, and not a safety net for a girl with no other options. It was just what I needed to find a joy in writing.
I started to write little short stories and poems, and actually do really well in my school work. I even wrote a national contest winning poem for a school project in 2009.
For me, writing became a thing I actually liked about myself, and I desperately needed that.
As I finished up high school, I found that I was still very lost. I had no plans, no aspirations, and felt like everyone else was just flying into their own great futures. I avidly looked for work for a whole year after graduating and found nothing. Red Lake jobs that were not physically demanding, or didn’t require driving, just did not turn up.
Then finally, I caught one.
I became a freelance writer for the Northern Sun Newspaper. Our little local newspaper. It was absolutely a dream job. I started going out to any and every local event, I got to meet so many incredible people and have my foot in so many exciting projects. All whilst showcasing my one true talent.
I wrote for that newspaper for three years. People knew to see me at events, they knew my stories from my columns, and I was very happy in my role there. Until they were bought out. My position didn’t carry over to the new owners, and I found myself out of the job I loved.
I had a tough couple of years after that, as you may have read in my last column. I went through a divorce, was a predominately single parent, learned how to live on my own, went through COVID times, did a college program and had to become creative in keeping my life together.
BUT last summer, my littlest sister showed me an ad she found on Facebook. The ad? Freelance writing for Thunder Bay News online.
And here we are. I am back, triumphantly, writing. Getting back on the ground running - figuratively. Doing what I love once more.
And I am so glad to be here!
