WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE? WHY ARE YOU HERE?

So, here we are.

(Hopefully if you're reading this you've already taken a look at my about page. If not, you should probably go do that first. Just saying.)

I want this first post to be a bit of an explanation about what has prompted me to begin this blog. Firstly, I have loved words since I knew what they were. Reading & writing have always been a huge part of my life, and as I got older I realized that this love was grounded in my attraction to storytelling and understanding the human experience. Naturally, film and television and other forms of media became a part of this obsession for me. I decided to bring all of these things together when I went to college, becoming an English major with a focus on Cinema & Media Studies. I can honestly say that studying these crafts in a structured environment, surrounded by people that loved these things as much as I did, was a truly enjoyable and eye-opening and gratifying experience. Since graduating and joining the 9-to-5 world, however, I've struggled to find an outlet for my thoughts and feelings about what I watch. Honestly, I miss being forced to think critically about the media I'm exposed to the joy that comes from sharing those thoughts with others.

((Receipts of education. Apparently I really enjoyed taking photos of my homework.))

In the past, publishing my words on any sort of public forum has been petrifying to me. Exposing yourself to judgement, especially from people you know and/or people who's opinions you value, is always scary. But in addition to that vulnerability, I've always felt as if I don't quite have a right to contribute to the "conversation." I worried that my writing wouldn't be good enough, or that I wasn't knowledgeable enough about what I was saying and I'd get called out for it, or nobody would care to hear what I had to say. Basically I felt fake and I was afraid of being exposed. So, at the core this blog is an effort for me to silence that inner dialogue and to just create in a way that feels genuine to me. I won't promise well-crafted critical essays on my favorite shows or expert film reviews. Just because I was handed a diploma does not make me an expert in anything. I can only write from my own experience and try not to let fear hold me back from putting my perspective out into the world.

There is no rubric for free thought or TV feels or media obsession or writing about what you're into or not into or loving or hating or anything else. So this will be a space where I spill my guts and my love for all screen things. And you can read it, or not read it, hate it, or not hate it, and it's all just fine. Because it's first and foremost for me, and guess what?
​It's not being graded.