The Right to Write
“What makes me so special that people would want to listen to me and that I wouldn’t have to be a “normal” person?” — my buddy.
Who has the right to write? Do you have to have certain initials after your name to be credible? Does your job title, achievements, fame, popularity, or special circumstance give you the right to write?
Everybody has the right to write, and everybody can choose with whom to engage (aided by algorithms).
I read articles with catchy titles on the Medium home page, especially those articles that are under 5 minutes to read. I often have zero idea who the author is, but after reading the article I may do some research.
My buddy is a talented musician and a deep thinker. He’s been working 90 hour plus weeks of “normal” jobs to get himself out of student loan debt from a degree he did not finish. He imagines a music career and expressed guilt in the thought experiment. The guilt derives from knowing that there are so many people in the world don’t have the resources or abilities to make a career doing something artistic.
Guilt isn’t productive. It does no thing for no person. One has no control over the where and to whom they were born. You do not ask to be talented.
This leads me down another rabbit hole. How much talent has gone undiscovered and/or underdeveloped. We’re born and given a narrative to abide by from our parents and society. Education is essential, knowledge is power, but I think exposure is everything. I keep thinking of underprivileged kids. What if one of them is a natural hockey player, but they’ll never get the chance to try it. Kids are absolute learning machines, but if they aren’t exposed, how much talent lies dormant?
One controls what they do with their blessings and guilt should arise if one is not doing everything in their power to reach their potential.
So we all have a right to write. A right to create whatever we want. The 21st century allows us to broadcast and create our art in a variety of manners. I’m very optimistic for the world. Internet access is common and spreading. The internet hosts the best teachers in the world. One can learn about anything and be exposed to everything.
