“I should just stop this facade of being a writer because I am never being one,” I said to myself.
Before I tell you this story, let me tell you a little about myself. I started writing about three years ago with the pen name – the_wandering_writer, majorly on Instagram. In these years, I wrote more than 2,000 posts and amassed around 8,000 followers. Some of my posts were picked up by famous Instagram pages and I started feeling that maybe now I am on my track to be a writer.
However, I was going through a rough patch and my writing wasn’t going anywhere. So I almost gave it up and started to focus on other things. But then, one day, when I was going through my profile, I saw a direct message. Getting a direct message was rare at the time, unless it was a friend. I won’t tell you anything about the person because that is irrelevant to the story. But the message was this: “Hey, I don’t know if you’d be reading this or not but I just wanted to tell you that you are a wonderful writer and you stopped me from giving up my life. You make something as beautiful as poetry from your pain which gave me hope to get through mine. Keep writing. God bless.”
That was a random person I never knew, and I may never meet. But somehow, my work managed to save her. Honestly, for the first time in months, I actually felt that I have a purpose. I thought again about the reason why I started writing at all.
It wasn’t for the likes and followers (although it does gives you that dopamine rush) – it was because I was hurting and wanted a way out. With that message, I knew my work helped others who were hurting in some way. And even if I never become a successful writer, I’ll always know that I helped one person with my work. Can there be a better achievement than that?
I may or may not have saved that person but that person saved the writer in me. I see so much hate on the internet, and I feel sorry for the people who carry it. Stop bullying people, be kind. Appreciate something if you like it, drop a comment if something made your day – spread the positivity. The only thing you earn here are the people who would miss you when you’re gone. It’s about time you gathered some.