Work without worry

This is fun, surprisingly.

I mean, writing without worry—just putting words into a document about whatever crap I'm interested in, without having to plan for anything, whether it be word count, the opinions of others, or whether I'll earn anything from my work.

Writing for the sake of writing—not just to inspire anyone or to approach a highly intelligent and complex subject. Sure, that's fun at times, and I did it recently, just without publishing it. But it can lead to burnout very quickly, and nothing good ever comes of that.

I've spent the past few weeks writing about whatever came to mind. I wrote a bit about video games because that's how I spend most of my time nowadays until I have to go back to work. I wrote a little about chess because I started playing it recently. And I also wrote a thing or two about what made me angry, sad, or depressed.

No lesson to learn, nothing to teach or analyze—just plain old idea and thought sharing.

Since I started doing this, I no longer get that feeling of dread when I want to write something. I don't get that knot in my stomach that constantly makes me wonder whether what I create will be good enough or not. Who cares, after all? I could write a bunch of useless nonsense, and there will be a few people somewhere who like it just because.

That type of thinking seems to lift a lot of pressure off my shoulders. I no longer have to think and worry about what I make—I just have to make. And that makes it fun. And if it's fun, I'll keep doing it until I get bored again or no longer have time for it.

Now it just remains to be seen exactly how long this will last. It might be another week, another month, or something I'll continue doing indefinitely.