This is going to be a semi-reflective, semi-announcment type post, but i suppose I’ll begin with the sentimental stuff.
I live my life in a very meticulous manner. Everything I do has a purpose, or is guided by the knowledge that anything I do could bite me back one day. This blog was not one of those things. On July 22nd, 2019, I decided that I wanted to start a blog. For what reason, I don’t know. It just dawned on me that “wow, having a blog would be a really cool thing!”
I planned like crazy. Though the idea of having a blog was spontaneous, my execution was certainly not. I would post every Friday, have one interview, one article, one book review, and one personal piece of writing every single month. I planned out my themes and posts beforehand, I scheduled all my posts so that I wouldn’t forget. I stuck to a theme. Nothing about it was unplanned.
I knew exactly who I wanted to interview for each month and for what topic, and for the most part, I had interviews scheduled for Feburary done in August. I knew what books I wanted to read, what articles I wanted to write, and what poems I wanted to post.
For the first two months, it was great! I was on schedule and I loved everything about it. Then mid-fall hit, and something within me changed. Junior year had stripped me of either my self-confidence or my sanity, so I became horribly unproductive. Blogging became a task rather than a passion. Not only did I not keep up with my meticiously planned blog, I also did not write, sing, dance, or do anything that I loved.
When you plan every moment in your life, it feels like your always running and can never stop. You’re carrying dumbells that drag behind you, and one day, you don’t just stop. You collapse.
My self confidence took a toll in October-December. A combination of personal failures and a quarter life “who am I” crisis made me a whole different person. I was once a girl who balanced writing a novel, running a blog, keeping A+ grades, in theatre, choir, debate with joy, but suddenly, that internal motivation was gone.
Now, I know why. I had my life so planned out to the point that there was no room for mistakes, no room to breathe, no room to enjoy my youth. The fact that my entire plan boiled down to me getting a scholorship or into my dream program terrified me, and most of all, I no longer knew what I wanted to do with my life. I occasionaly posted, but nothing I was happy with.
When COVID-19 hit in January, things changed. In this time, I was able to bring myself out of my emotional slump, to heal these insecurities I’ve been hiding, hang out with people I care about, and to pursue things that I actually love like The Young Writers Initiative.
My quarter-life crisis also tamed down. This is because I realized a fundamental thing about who I am. I am an enthusiast. I’m in no way professional or accomplished in most things that I do, but I do them because I am enthusiastic about them. In a podcast, I once heard a guest say “at my first job, they said I shouldn’t call myself a writer, but a writing enthusiast.” That’s a euphamism for amatuer, but that speaker took that as a compliment, and so do I.
If you think about it, enthusiasts crave to learn. They crave to grow and be better. They are passionate and work harder than everyone else. They pursue things they love. They work and work until they get where they want to be.
I’ve changed the name of this blog many times. It started off as Nooks and Crooks of Writing, then became Imperfect Ways To Write, and Riya M. Cyriac, but nothing felt right.
On the annivesary of my blog, I have decided to change the name of this blog to The Enthusiast. I feel like it represents who I am and what I want to write about most. I don’t want to restrict myself to writing tips or book reviews. No, I want to talk you guys about things that make me enthusiasic, like starting an organization, writing, poetry, politics, my random musings, leadership, motivation, passion, the occasional check up, and so much more. There is so much I want to offer you all, and I think this is a promising new journey.
Why does this matter? My blog has long been exclusively for writing for the past year, but now, I’m branching out! I hope you guys enjoy what’s to come in the future, it’s really exciting, and most of all spontaneous. I still live my life in a very planned manner, but this blog is something I want to do for myself, not for a dream or for anyone else. I want to look back at this when I’m 30 and smile at what I had to say, what I thought about the world, what I felt, and what’s changed. Think of it as a public journal that the whole world can read.
I’m still totally up for suggestions though, and I’m no longer restricted by self-imposed permiters. I can’t promise I’ll only post on Friday, but you can expect one thing from me a week at least.
I want to thank everyone who has hopped on a google doc or messaging system to do an interview or discussion with me for my blog! I love talking with y’all, and it seems like others do too.
Thank you for the 1500 people that have read my blog in the past year. It’s not a lot to some people, but to me, the fact that you even want to hear this enthusiast ramble on about writing and life means the world to me. I hope you’re excited with what’s to come.
Love,
Riya
The Enthusiast 