Why this blog?

I've never wanted to have my own blog. Actually, the idea of posting what I write is terrifying and feels presumptuous. Why should I assume people would want to read what I have to say? There are a million things to read, and a million people in this world saying eloquent things.

After being offered the opportunity to study abroad in Rome this summer, I mustered some courage to start a blog for my family and friends back home.
One day, our class visited the Keats and Shelly House, which humbly resides beside the Spanish Steps. There, John Keats, a promising poet died of tuberculosis at the age of 25. He requested these words to be engraved on his tombstone: Here lies One / Whose Name was writ in Water. Keats believed that his poetry and his name would disappear as quickly as the attempt to write in water. The phrase "writ in water" has stuck with me since returning home. I feel a lot like Keats did, like anything I would have to say won't stick around too long.

Lately though, I've been noticing how many untold stories there are. From the smile of my grandma over a college memory, to a friend's pride in her Iranian heritage, all these stories are interesting and worth hearing. My college-era of life is filled with so many faces, so many resounding colors, and I'm realizing that these unrecorded stories are worth something. Maybe I'm feeling nostalgic, being a twenty-something in a whirlwind of changes. Life won't stop for anyone. Or maybe all these people I love, and things I've been noticing about the world, have propelled me to be courageous.

So...we'll see where this blog goes. It won't be a place to gossip or anything crazy like that. I'm just excited to start sharing some of my writing. A little here and there.