[insert cliche post title such as: Cameron Unfiltered or Cameron 2.0]

I realize that I have said in previous entries that this blog would be dedicated to my short stories, however I would like to amend that by saying that this blog, much like the majority of blogs in existence, shall be a vehicle in which I will convey my thoughts, which admittedly is scary, both for myself and for the reader.

Yesterday I began watching a television show called The Newsroom, which is an excellent program, one you should watch however I will not get into that right now. The basic premise of the show is that the main character, Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels) is a very popular TV newscaster for cable news network, whom is recently told that he is journalistic equivalent to Jay Leno, people watch him because he does not bother them. The series basically opens with Will having a very public meltdown at a college forum he is speaking at. Without giving anything away, his programing directer basically sees a glimmer of potential of the great broadcaster Will could become and hires a new Executive Producer to bring the best out of him, in which she effectively does. Like I said, it's a great program, you should watch it. One of my favorite scenes in the show (of all 10 episodes in its vast history) is when Will is engaging with a woman who works for a gossip magazine who is trying to smear Will and his EP. Will gives a rousing speech about he and his crew are true journalists, and she should, essentially. mind her own business. She of course, in a futile attempt to save face, makes some snide remark about said rousing speech and says he will never win, to which he responds, "Eh, I don't care, I'm just some middle-aged man who never lived up to his potential, you don't want to be on the wrong end of me if I ever do."

Don't you just love it when a line from a book or a movie or song or even a TV show just resonates with you on such a deep and profound level? Given, I am in no way a middle-aged man, if anything I am twenty years Will McAvoy's junior, but regardless that line resonated with me. For my adult life (all ten years of it) it would seem that I have lead a very safe life. Much like Will McAvoy and Jay Leno, I live my life in a way so as not to bother people. I keep my views on my personal politics and religion very much private, at least in the blogosphere, and I have refrained from really publishing my writing, whether fictional or memoirs, away from the public eye (or if I'm being completely honest away from even being recorded) for the fear that it would not be good, or that it will bother people, challenge their thinking, or that I will be labeled ignorant and naive.

Ever since high school I have known that I have a talent for writing (in fact those that know me can attest that I communicate far better in writing than I do verbally). I have, on several occasions, received papers back from teachers and professors with notes saying they would like signed copies of my first book (Mr. Belsan, if you are reading this, I vividly remember you writing this on my senior paper, to which I will keep my promise). Since then I have aspired myself to become a professional writer. I still hold fast to ambitions of writing books and perhaps even a screenplay, however sadly, those dreams have been stunted by a conversation I had with a "friend while" while I was in college. I was talking with him about how I wanted to write a book, and his words to me were, and I quote, "What could you possibly have to write about?" I can see now that he was just a pretentious jerk (feel free to add in your own expletive if that helps).

The years following that conversation, those words have haunted me on a subconscious level. What on earth could I have to say that hasn't already been said? Then I did research into the costs of submitting manuscripts into publishers for them to even read it, without the promise of publication, and I became discouraged even further. From that point, I subconsciously assumed the role of Jay Leno, not just in my writing, but also in all other areas of my life. I was just trying to make my way through the world without bothering anybody. I kept my ambitions, stories, and thoughts to myself... and then I watched The Newsroom.

I may just be twenty-something who hasn't reached my full potential, but to that pretentious jerk (again feel free to reinsert your previous expletive. Just like a mad-lib!): well, I won't say something as threatening as Will McAvoy did, but still, I'm about to prove you wrong.

How dare anyone tell someone that another human being doesn't have a story to tell? That their voice is any less valid just because they have not acquired the proper degree, or lived seemingly exciting adventures. My stories and experiences may not make me a sought after dinner guest, but that does not mean that my voice or anyone else who has ever tread this great earth, does not have a story worth telling, worth listening to.

It is time that I stop wandering though life afraid of bothering people with what I have to say.

What if what I have to say is what millions of people have been dying to say but have not been able to articulate? What if what I have to say can resonate with someone as much as the words of Aaron Sorkin through Will McAvoy resonated with me. I'm not saying that my words are profound and earth shattering, but I have a voice and it is my right to be heard.

Welcome to Cameron Writes Stuff Down 2.0


(I realize how cheesy and overused that last line is, and I don't care.)