Behind "Some Personal News"
A photo from when I went to San Francisco in December. I wore my Blue UP Hoodie way too much on that trip (Photo by Vicky Woodburn)
I’ve rewritten this story five, ten, maybe twenty times in the last four months. Every time I wrote it, I wasn’t really sure if I’d ever publish it.
It’s not the right time, I’d rationalize.
People will think you’re weird for sharing something this personal, I’d tell myself.
No one wants to hear a privileged, ungrateful white boy talk about his so-called problems, I’d think.
When I started writing for Bolts From The Blue — SB Nation’s site dedicated to all things Chargers — it was my first dip into the world of online content. In the beginning, I would get really upset at the nasty comments I would receive, and I felt like I had to satisfy everyone, and tread lightly. Eventually, though, I realized that a) I truly believed what I was writing was good content that would resonate with readers and b) the Internet is full of many dark pockets, and it’s not very productive to interact with unreasonable people.
Quite a lot of lessons to learn at the age of 17, no?
Nevertheless, I don’t say that all to make light of this piece. I tackled a complex problem in mental health, reflecting on my experiences in the last seven months and how they amounted to be one of the most difficult time periods in my life. As I worked on how I wanted to present my story, I went back and forth — what’s the purpose of telling it?
Then, in the last week, two of my close friends told me that they’ve been going through it of late, and were in pretty dark places. They were shocked to realize I had dealt with similar things, too. No two people’s experiences are the same, but I believe that in being extremely vulnerable, they both left the conversation feeling a lot better, that people cared about them.
That was the purpose of the piece. I really think it’s important to show people, look, you’re not alone. There are plenty of topics like this we just don’t talk about, that get swept under the rug. Topics from data rights to voter purging to the value of content. Topics where we skip out on depth, and context.
It took me a while to figure things out. I still don’t have it all figured out. I don’t think anyone has. But I learned a lot about myself over the last seven months, about life, career, college, and more. And personally, I believe these are lessons that everyone can take in and appreciate.
To conclude, I hope you enjoy this piece. It’s definitely on the longer side — it took a long time to write, after all. Nevertheless, please let me know what you think of it! I would love to start a dialogue about some of the topics I presented.
After all, what's more on brand for me than longform and conversations?
You can read “Some Personal News” here, and learn more about UNPLUGG’D MAG here.