In Appreciation of Public Writing Spaces

Thank you for providing me space and safety

Photo by Quaid Lagan on Unsplash

This will be a short post. 

For reasons I cannot make clear here, I have been living a bit of a nomadic life. I have a home, yes. But I don’t feel too comfortable there. Again, I cannot say why. At least, not yet. I do wish to tell my story soon. But today is not that day. 

Instead, I wish to give thanks for public writing spaces. I have been leaving my home too often lately, in an unhealthy manner admittedly. I fill up my bag with whatever I think I’ll need, from my journal, my current reads, and my laptop. I’ve been carrying those every day, looking for a place to have space. 

I have been frequenting a café outside of work almost every morning, ordering what breakfast my budget would allow. I sit there eating and then I pull out my laptop and start getting to work. I wish I could do this at home. But I currently can’t, and I cannot say why yet. 

I appreciate this café. It’s been a haven from my own household. The servers and cooks here have taken good care of me in my time of need, and I cannot be more grateful. 

Whenever I have felt uncomfortable at home—at any time of my life—I walk out with my things in hand. I look to wherever I can—a library, a café, and so on—and try to continue my life. I try, despite the overwhelming nature of my life, to keep working on my career. To keep writing. To keep going. It’s the only thing I want in my life. I write this in that same café now. I have finished my breakfast and keep my coffee next to me. 

I wish things were different at home. Maybe someday they will be. But I find space for myself. But I wouldn’t be able to find it if it were not provided. 

So thank you to the libraries, the cafés, and other public writing spaces for offering what you can. Your kindness will never go unnoticed.

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Thank you so much for reading. I apologize for alluding to my current struggles without making clear what they are. As mentioned, I hope to tell my story soon. But it’ll have to wait for now.

What I’m currently reading: surprisingly, I’m reading three books at once right now.

Before this post, I had finished reading Kill the Dog by Paul Guyot. It’s a book on screenwriting that wishes to debunk a lot of screenwriting myths by—what Guyot refers to—screenwriting gurus, with the title being a clear allusion to possibly the most famous of them all. I liked it, personally. I think it’s a worthwhile read.

As for the three books I’m currently reading, the first is The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. It’s not really a book on craft so much as a book that tries to motivate you to pursue your art. I’m currently halfway through, and I’m finding a few nuggets of wisdom here.

The second book I’m reading is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I’ve been in a stoic mood lately, and this is the bible of stoicism. It’s been on my list for a minute, so I finally decided to give it a shot.

The last book I’m currently reading is Saint the Terrifying by Joshua Mohr. Mohr was my first instructor at my MFA in Writing program at USF. He was one of my favorite instructors and I will always be grateful for his lessons. This novel is his latest, and I’m very excited to delve into it.

As always, the links to the books above are affiliate links to my Bookshop page. Clicking and purchasing books from my page/ links will earn me a small commission as well as support independent bookstores across the country. If you wish to support me as a writer and are thinking of buying a book, feel free to purchase something off my page.

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Thank you again for reading. See y’all next time. Stay safe.