Whiskey, Weed and Warren Zevon

The other day, I was reading @ericvancewalton's Steemversary post and he mentioned how much he's changed in the three years he's been here and how that change wouldn't have happened without this platform.
It's an interesting thought, especially as we can't really know what life would have been like without ever encountering this place. Because you know, we have. We're here now, ain't we?

And it's something that I've been thinking about, looking back and seeing how much you've changed. I was thinking about who I was two years ago and who I am now and there's a world of difference, not only in mentality (which is more about what's happened in my life in the meantime, rather than this place) but most importantly, who I am creatively, you know?

I recently saw a picture of myself two years ago and I realized that I didn't know about this place when that photo was taken. How does that translate to me? I wasn't writing. Hard to believe now. I wonder what the fuck I was doing, you know...

Now, I look at how much I've changed in two years. Less than that. And I don't really have much time to stop and think about that because I've got plans for the day, things to do, a schedule I mean to keep. You know, life. And I find I'm happy with who I am right now.

And a lot of that change has happened because of one person and that's @mariannewest, the founder and host of the 5 Minute Freewrite Challenge. When I first heard of it, I figured I'd try it to get in the habit of writing more. I thought the idea of writing after a prompt rather silly, you know?
But I got into it. I found I liked it and I found a lot of good people in the Freewrite House, supportive people. I don't know, it was fun, so I kept on doing it. Day in, day out. Taking the prompt and seeing where it took me.

The first freewrite I did was truly just five minutes. It must've been, I don't know, three hundred words? Something measly like that. Now, I struggle to write for just five minutes. Actually, I can't. My mind won't let me stop just because of the clock and I like to see an idea through, should it yield a thousand words or a hundred thousand.

I've changed a lot, artistically. I used to look at novels and even novellas or short stories (basically anything over a couple thousand words) and think I'd never be able to do that. Now, I have trouble writing that kind of short stories. The other day, I was thinking about a story I'm writing and it's only just the beginning. I only have six thousand words so far.
Nothing, really. Or at least, not much.

And it's weird, 'cause it seems like an eternity, but it's only been two years. Less, actually.

And I wouldn't be here if I'd never tried a five minute freewrite. Isn't that strange? I wonder where I would've been if I hadn't, but I suppose I'll never know. Well, I guess this is a long-due @mariannewest appreciation post (and of course, that extends to all the wonderful people in the freewrite house). <3