No One Cares What I Have to Say, So Why Should I Keep Writing?

“Why should I keep writing when no one seems to care what I have to say?”

This is a question I’ve asked myself a lot since starting this blog nearly four years ago. 

While there were many different reasons I chose to start relationshipswell, one of the main reasons was because a publisher I was working with at the time told me I need to establish a following if I ever want to publish my first book and give it a chance to receive any traction. I needed to get my writing in front of people, have people connect with it, like it, and follow me to read more of it. 

And this reason propelled me for awhile. I started writing blog posts and promoting myself and my blog on social media. I did was I was “taught” to do by watching successful writers promote themselves on social media. 

But before long, I started to feel like my following was less about the words I was writing and more about the pictures of myself I was promoting. And that is not what I wanted for this blog, even it meant fewer people following me. 

Then, for a while, this blog became about something more important. It became about my dad. My dad who, for years, was off my radar, struggling with drug addiction and mental illness somewhere out in the world. Then, when my mom died over two years ago, my dad got in contact with my sister and me. 

He was doing better–on medication and stable–and had access to a computer. So when I told him about my blog, he started reading it. Every week he looked forward to my new post. His consistency kept me consistent. It didn’t matter if he was the only one reading my posts, as long as he was reading them, being encouraged by them, and staying connected. 

That lasted for a while, and I loved writing to him, for him, and knowing it was making at least a little bit of a difference in at least one person’s life. 

But when he got off his medication and stopped calling consistently, I stopped writing consistently. 

I asked myself, “Why should I keep writing when no one seems to care what I have to say?”

And then, I stopped writing altogether. 

Then, just a month or so ago, I got an email. 

It was from a complete stranger who happened to come across a post I wrote over two years ago about the death of mom. I hadn’t been promoting it. It was just setting in the archives of my website. But she found it when she needed it–when her mom was dying of cancer. 

Through a few email communications, I was able to (hopefully) encourage her, answer some of her questions about grief and losing your mom, and make her feel a little less alone during one of the hardest moments of her life. 

I felt honored to be able to talk to her. I felt honored that she chose to read my article and that it moved her in some way. I felt grateful that I chose to write that article two years ago–even if nobody cared then, it was making an impact now. 

It inspired me to start writing again. Regardless of the reason I started relationshipswell all those years ago, God has a purpose for my writing. My only responsibility is to follow his lead, use the gift and passion he gave me, and write. 

It isn’t about how many people read my posts but that they are there for the person who needs it when they need it–whether that be the same day I post it or years later. 

So, if you find yourself asking a similar question–wondering why you spend the time, energy, and effort working toward something that doesn’t seem to be gaining traction or accomplishing the goals you set for it–I encourage you to look at the bigger picture. Look to God and ask him what his plans are for it.

I’ve realized that sometimes the person who I am writing for is me. That I need to process something, work through an experience by writing about it. That God is trying to get my attention and speak to me through my writing. 

So, I’m going to keep writing. And I hope you do too. I hope you keep working on whatever it is you are doing. Worldly success is not the prize; what God does with your talents, gifts, and passions is. And he has good plans to use for you his greater purpose. You may not see it now. In fact, you may not see it ever. But that’s no reason to stop. 

As we are instructed in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

. . .

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash