Career Advice from Mr. Wormwood.

Okay, Journal. I guess at this point you don’t really trust me. I haven’t been writing every day. I don’t have a rhythm right now. The truth is, I am a little bit out of step. In fact, I don’t know where the ground is right now. I am trying something that I never thought I would try. Journal, as you know, I am a writer. I am not really a reader. I’ve spent the last while reading. Reading a LOT. It almost feels like I’m reading too much. So, in all honesty, I’m too burned out to write every day like I used to. People don’t consume media like they used to. The written word is special to me, but the content and process of getting said content into the world… well that is downright sacred. I need to connect with people. If I don’t get my thoughts onto some medium, I feel my head will implode from the vacuum they produce when kept to myself. So, journal. What am I to do? I am a writer in a watcher’s world. I continue to write, but I am also studying the new world. The world of video. We don’t even read that much online anymore! Society now absorbs what would seem as the majority of their information through video. The scene from my favorite childhood movie, Matilda comes to mind. Danny Devito’s character exclaims, “There’s nothing you can get from a book that you cant get from a TV faster.” Harry Wormwood is then caught off-guard by the spontaneous explosion of his TV set. It is true that most of us have gotten to that point. the majority of people choose the info expressway of online video as the

preferred medium to consume content. I have deemed myself as one who is dedicated to the human condition. I’ve been told my best method of communication is through writing. Nobody wants to see my ugly face on the internet, right? Well, that may be so. I may feel more confident, competent… continent? –definitely one of those, with my fingers jabbing keys to get my point across. But if I can reach more people with more than one medium… well, maybe I pick up something more than writing. A couple months ago, I started a YouTube channel. I posted a couple videos. The first one was terrible. The second one was horrible. I thought it was going the wrong direction, so I listened to the devil on my shoulder— the one that told me to skip 97% of my homework in grade school— aannnd, I said to my YouTube channel. “Nah. It ain’t working. Forget about it.” So my YouTube channel sits. With a seemingly arrogant writer with ZERO camera skills, staring at the YouTube algorithm with longing and regret, knowing that it is WAAAAAAAY out of his league. Well, recently I turned to the other shoulder. The miniature me with a halo said, “Yup that algorithm is indeed way out of your league. So figure yourself out. Improve. And just do it.” So, Journal, what do you think. Do I have the chops to switch swords, or rather, pick up another one? My book is out of page design. The inside is done. Just need the cover and then I switch into sales mode. A lot is happening, and I am sorry I don’t talk to you as often as I should. The truth is I feel a lot better when I talk to you. I need to keep doing this. I am going to move forward. This book Is going to get my full effort. I cant abandon it. I also can’t abandon the other writing I’ve done— the stuff I have in the pipeline, but one thing is certain. I am going through a significant restructuring. Journal, if we are going to through this, I need to expand. I have to give my wife 100%. Lizzie 100%, Charlotte 100%, my work 100%. I need to grow. I am feeling the growing pains, but they’re worth it. I’m not happy when Kimmy and the kids aren’t happy. I’m not happy when I can’t write. I’m not happy when I can’t make my world my own. Now that I am not rereading my book every second I can, searching for mistakes, I will have more time to write. You’ll see more of me. I won’t promise, but I will hope. I will try, and I will improve. After all... you deserve 100% too, Journal. You keep me sane for the rest of them. Without you, I would truly fall. You handle truth. You receive my thoughts, my fears. If anyone can truly understand the lens that I view the world with, it is you. I can’t remove the lens. But I can describe how my life looks from behind it.