If you're reading this, you're witnessing the start of something new…

…new to me, anyway.

I'm starting a blog to express and challenge myself in a new way.

Sure, I wrote plenty of papers in school, and I still write my fair share of long texts (probably more than my friends would like), but I can’t remember the last time I truly stopped to collect my thoughts and write something I was proud of; something worth sharing.

A few weeks ago, that realization hit me, and I haven’t been able to shake it since. So many people I admire are writers. I’ve always counted myself out, assuming I wasn’t “qualified” because I’m less formally educated than most of them. Instead, I’ve focused on learning—reading books, listening to podcasts*, and constantly trying to understand more. But the more I learn, the clearer it becomes: learning only takes on real value when it’s expressed.

I know that’s an absolute statement, so feel free to disagree—but the idea is simple enough that any high-schooler could tell you: book smarts will only get you so far. You have to apply what you know. Facts and ideas don’t shape your worldview until you wrestle with them, reflect on them, and share them with others.

Still, the question lingers:
there are already so many voices out there, so many brilliant writers—why add mine to the mix?
Am I just adding to the noise?

Honestly, I don’t know yet.

I’m not doing this for an audience. I have ideas I believe are worth exploring, and maybe, in time, worth sharing. But at its core, this is a challenge to myself…a challenge to publish thoughts and reflections that might make the world a little better, or at least help me make sense of it.

If you decide to follow along, I’d love that.
If not, that’s okay too. Like I said—this is for me.

The only way to get anywhere is to start somewhere.
So why not here?

*Current favorites: “Freakonomics Radio” and “The Rest Is History.” Highly recommend.