If I Should Write a Book

I'm probably vain as I read my Facebook posts and think, "Dude! I should write a book or something!" Actually, I know I tend to be extremely vain. But we're gonna forget about that topic for now.  As I pondered the thought that I have all the makings to be the next bestselling author, I asked myself, "What on earth could I write about?" I seem to have this deep notion that I'm unusually wise and insightful and might have something to offer the intellectual world. In my profound wisdom, I reminded myself that most people are prone to thinking that they know better than the rest of the world and that I'm probably no different. Now I'm confused.

But I digress, I actually don't have much to write that the world doesn't already know. Correction: I don't have anything to write that the world doesn't already know. The best that I can hope to do is collect it into an essay that makes sense to people. But listen, I don't want to be "that guy" who is telling people how to live. You can do whatever the heck you want with your life. If you listened to all of my advice, you might screw it up really bad. Actually, I'm getting a lot better at shutting my mouth, so you might end up okay.

Truth be told, I regularly find myself finally comprehending a life lesson that I wish I'd gotten 10-15 years ago during my very first double-digit years of existence. I think, "Oh, if I only knew then what I know now, I'd have the world in the palm of my hand!" But life is what it is and I have no interest to change the past, even if I could. But suppose I could send letters to my past self: what would I say? What kind of advice would I impart on the obnoxious and painfully awkward young Jeremy that would benefit the poor soul on his way toward adulthood? Perhaps I could speak directly to the young ginger's heart and convince him to be more disciplined, or forget about that stupid girl, or stop being so dang shy in the first place! I don't know if text could transfer confidence to someone who suffers a great deficiency of such virtue. But supposing I could, what would I say? And maybe the next best thing is, "What would I want my children to know?"

So I'm not writing a book. I'm just writing a blog. Maybe it'll become a book later if it ends up being good enough, but I'm not holding my breath on this one. If nothing else, it's a writing exercise that keeps me from cluttering the newsfeeds of Facebook users who just don't care what I have to say but are nevertheless too lazy to simply un-follow me. Will this make me less annoying or more? I don't know, but it's something different and I'm all over that.