When I don't write for a while, I sometimes think it's because I've run out of things to say.
But rarely is that the case. What really happens is that other obligations make it difficult to find time to think of what to say in a compelling, relevant manner.
Because there's more than just the five minutes it takes to write these posts. It's the unquantifiable amount of time it takes to let ideas germinate, to craft a powerful way to say what I want to say, and write things that I can be okay having my name attached to.
The very first time I got paid consistently for writing was in 2011 when I was transitioning out of teaching. It was a new site called GoodBlogs.
The way it worked was you wrote a post each day about anything you wanted and if people liked what you wrote, they gave it a like.
If you had the most likes at the end of the day, you got $20. For twenty straight days, I wrote stream of consciousness about writing stream of consciousness writing. I earned $400.
I learned that good writing is good writing even if that good writing is about writing about good writing being about good writing.
Ever since, I've used public spaces like this as an online journal to write out loud what's on my mind.
I trust you're okay with that.
And, no, you don't have to pay me.