Community Letters

A Letter of Hope

18 April 2020

Dear Community,

I hope you are well and happy. Times have been hard for everyone lately but don't you worry, just hold on and everything will eventually get better.

Honestly, I have never been quite good at writing letters. After having to write letters for all the tumultuous and terrifying years of my education, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it. I think that's because letters are supposed to be personal, they are supposed to contain a little bit of the writer and it goes without saying that I was not too keen on showing a little bit of myself to my grumpy English teacher. Now, that my incompetency has been established let's get into how I got here.

I have been writing since I was nine years old. It has been a wild, unpredictable roller coaster ride and so far has resulted in half of my hard drive being filled by word files. At times, when I go through my old writing, I cannot believe that I used to write like that. Some things are embarrassing enough to be buried in the recycling bin and some are confusing enough to spend years examining, but each and every one of them led me here. Even that weird eight line story about space aliens, led me here.

Me and Wattpad have had an on-and-off relationship. I first joined Wattpad on 31 st July, 2016, you know right after I figured out it existed. In the course of four years, I have burned through three accounts. At the time of the first one, I didn't know what writing was, to be honest I still don't know what writing is, but I have learnt a great deal since then. So, obviously, my writing was pretty bad back then.

So, I started another account where I wrote a superhero story which I left halfway. At this point, I was beginning to figure out what I really wanted my writing to convey. That is how I ended up with my current account and current writing style.

It was a new beginning for me. It was a chance to finally write the way I wanted to. I started a book and gave it up halfway. It was when I was in that brief depressing, "abandon all hope ye who enter" period, that I found Wattpad Weekly Contests.

I don't mean to be dramatic but it sure did feel like I had spent a year in the darkness of my own creation, and now I was being welcomed into the light with open arms. I entered the first contest with a hopeful but scared-to-death spirit. It was quite a surprise to be mentioned in the results. The act of writing, submitting, being part of something beyond myself instigated a newfound hope and confidence in me. Reading the entries by the other entrants and interacting with them gave meaning to my days and purpose to my time.

I was just settling in and soon, a big community project, the August Whodunnit was approaching. In the past, I had joined and left many online communities. The fact that these communities were so vast intimidated me, so I kind of gave up on them after a while. I just climbed up into my own little shell, safe from the world of endless 4 am conversations between new friends.

The Whodunnit was an opportunity for me to open up. When I went in, I had no idea what I was doing but I found the people and the community to be very welcoming. We had fun, we talked, we laughed, we cried, we shared memories, we wrote stories and most importantly, we made friends.

I made friends who made me believe that the world is an amazing, hopeful and wonderful place. I made friends who made me believe in love, in compassion, in kindness, in hope and humanity.

I was no longer a recluse stranded on an island, watching the ships turn away from my shore. I was floating on the oceans of friendship and I was having the time of my life. I still am.

I found a new kind of family here. A quirky, comforting, naughty, trouble-making, talented, creative, compassionate, kind and loving family. My own second family. I started writing again because of them.

I found that finding people who care for you, finding people who share the same passion as you, finding people you can open up to, finding a place where you can unapologetically be yourself without any judgement is the best thing any person can have in this world. I found that in this community.

Being part of something beyond yourself is amazing, overwhelming and breathtaking. I hope you find that something too. That safe place where you can be yourself, that safe place where you can share 4 am conversations and never get tired. That safe place where you can sabotage an imaginary date, where you can deal grass to cows, where you can be a robot and human at the same time and where you can have everyone call you by the name of the inanimate object you happen to have in your username, for the rest of your life.

I also hope that you find the hope to carry on, to persist despite it all. I hope that you brave the storms that ravage your shores and stand, undeterred by the tides of hopelessness. 

I hope that your ship finds a safe shore to stay on, just like how I found my shore.

Best Wishes,

With hope, promise and lots of candy, 

herald_of_hell