I Hope You Do ,Too

I Hope You Do Too

John Paul Derryberry

About once a year, I randomly pick five to seven past blogs to read and think about ways in which I would improve them. It's essential for this natural storyteller but unnatural writer to engage in such skill improvement. A trip down memory lane occurs for all of us. Still, those journeys are only productive if you attempt to find valuable insight into how you've changed, improved, or adjusted your approach to life. If I was still approaching life the same way I did at 17, it'd be embarrassing. I would be attempting to spike the little amount of hair I have left  and answer big life questions without doing any research. I've met a couple of guys who still answer big life questions the same way they did as teenagers and, boy, is it ugly!

My re-reads laid out the improvement I've made. It lessened my writing stress to know gains had occurred.  It also revealed that I often include the phrase, "and I hope you do, too."  We all have these phrases we write and say to each other. We use them so much we subconsciously block it from our thought process, and they easily roll off the tongue.  I guess one of mine is, "and I hope you do, too". It makes this storyteller and reformed jerk happy to know I want that for others enough that it pops up in numerous places in my writing.

A young version of John didn't always want other people to have hope, to grow, to improve, or to have a just, ethical life experience. There was part of me that wanted people to learn the hard way, to have them suffer within their bad choices indefinitely. Heck, there was part of me that was glad I could look at someone else and think, "I'm a better person than you." It was shallow and selfish thinking: to deny people the same chance I had at redemption, growing from my mistakes, being enriched by the complexity of life and correcting the errors that were fixable. 

I suppose along my path, I started to convey that thought to the people in my audiences, my readers, and I hope you do, too. It fits my ethos of not really telling people how to live their lives nor talking down to or dismissing their life views and experiences. I can write a blog about becoming a parent and knowing that others also are struggling with that journey.  I can write, it was all worthwhile and I hope you get that feeling one day. While writing about struggling with mental health, I am writing about my own recovery. I can write that the journey through my struggles was difficult and I hope you also will find your way through. When I give a talk about emotional health, I can authenticity say, "It's not as easy I make it sound and I hope you, too, will navigate it correctly."

So my improvement check on my writing revealed something entirely different than I thought it would. It's great when these types of exercises show not only improvement in skill but as a person. So if you find yourself in one of those moments, well, you already know what I'm going to type. I'm happy that I commit to this type of introspection and I hope you do, too.