Nobody puts baillee in the corner

First off, this post officially marks me being a tenth of the way done with the hundred blog posts I’ve committed to in 2019. WOWZA. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has told me how much they’ve enjoyed seeing all of the TwentyMineTeen posts. Please know I appreciate it, and your royalty checks will be mailed shortly. Now, let’s get back to the regularly scheduled programming, shall we?

One thing you should know about me is if something isn’t my original content, I won’t put my name on it; a shock factor means absolutely nothing to be, and I won’t do something for the lolz. If something has been altered to the point I no longer hear my voice in it, I won’t sign away my approval. If it’s been tainted or diluted past recognition, I will take a step back. If my piece has been transfigured into something ugly and untrue, I will turn down offers on it. And I have.

That’s why I quit my first freelance writing gig. They wanted me to create false content for the sake of getting a few more clicks. The sad part is it has happened a couple of times, and it’s absolutely disheartening to know some people would rather choose titilating performances instead of original art. It breaks my heart to know some people don’t get the chance to walk away like I did; some have to simply watch their name be tarnished to make a bar graph rise a little higher in a meeting. Or have their reputation dragged to give sponsors more air time. Or have their writing morphed into a creature who devours their ideas until their original thoughts aren’t anything but rubble and ash left amongst pieces of clickbait. As a writer, it’s honestly sickening.

That’s why, no matter what people may say or think or do, I want you to know all of my writing is 100% genuine. These are all of my raw feelings and emotions and thoughts. I have never lied in my writing, and I will never lie in my writing. I promise you, my dear readers, all of my content is real.

I don’t falsify information. I don’t add dramatics for the sake of entertainment. I don’t lie. Period. I will never concoct scenarios just to have something to write. I will never fib about the goings-on in my life to make it sound better than my reality. I will never stretch the truth about my mental health or the people I write about or my friends and family.

Every word here is honest. Sometimes, I may be vague if I’m not fully ready to talk about something. Sometimes, I may have to partially paraphrase something because I can’t remember verbatim what  a person said, but I have never changed the meaning of their words; the message is still the same. Sometimes, I may look like the bad guy because I was in the wrong in a situation, but I’m not looking for pity or trying to throw my hat in the ring for martyrdom; it means I want it known I was in the wrong during that situation, and I’m sharing and dissecting what I learned from it.

BUT I have never completely changed a situation to get attention. I have never written something for revenge. I have never written something for recognition or praise. I write to help those around me by sharing my experiences. I write to help myself cope. I write because it’s a part of me.

I have jotted down ideas on pieces of receipt paper and napkins. I have taken a pen to paper in the middle of the night to record my emotions in real time. I have written entire posts while out with friends to make sure my writing captures my voice.

You see, the two things I’ll openly admit to being good at in this world are comedy and writing, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste my strengths on one of the weakest things a person can do: lie. I’m mortified to think some people don’t want to share their genuine experiences with others.

And that’s the truth.