Writing for Readers

I have been writing since I was in eighth grade. I started by writing poetry and my very first poem was called Footprints in the Sand.
We were always togetherYou and I foreverWalking hand in handMaking footprints in the sandBut now you have left methe pain is strongI'll learn to live SomehowMaking footprints in the sand
Very 13 year old forlorn love, don't you think? But I have always kept it written down somewhere in one of my many notebook squirreled around the house to remind me of the beginning of my writing. I have been published once, back in 1999, in a book of poetry. That one was called Together.
Together, we share one soul.Forever, we share one life.from the dark black coals,we have built a brilliant light.Hand in hand, we share one mind.Two separate bodies, each one of a kind.now forever close in the life we shareno matter what happens,I know you're there.Together in mind, body, and soulSomeone to caresswhen the nights are coldthrough the joy, anger, and tearswe've seen and calmed each other's fearsDeep in our heartswe know it's realNever having to doubt the emotions we feel.
I actually wrote that one when I was 19 or 20, but it wasn't published for another five or six years. I've started a book twice as well, but I keep thinking that if I were to write my life story it would be such an unbelievable story that Oprah would call me on it. Or maybe I just haven't figured out which story to tell. A memoir is supposed to tell a tale, have a point to it, so maybe someday all my Fibro writings will be that book. Who knows?
My point is that I have written all my life. I write in joy (I wrote my entire wedding ceremony), I write in anger, and frustration and despair. I write when life is too big for me to handle, and I write to share the best parts of my life so that when I'm gone, someone else knows the stories too. Now, I'm writing to share my story of living with Fibro and to raise awareness, to make a difference. For the first time, I am really writing for an audience of more than just one or for the tiny group of people closest to me that used to read my myspace blogs. Now I have followers that I barely know, and sometimes I get emails from people I don't know at all telling me that my blog has helped them understand this syndrome just a little better.
I wrote to my husband last year all through his induction process into the U.S. Navy Chief's Mess and gave him the scrapbook of sorts when he got pinned. It was a memoir of my experience during the process as well. I had a specific audience in mind when I wrote that, which is a lot different from what I write for all of you now. 
My words are being read by more people than ever before and I'm overjoyed each time I have someone contact me and tell me that my story, my journey, my ramblings helps them in some way. For my fellow fibromites that read, they tell me that they don't feel so alone anymore. That because of what I share, they understand their own struggles just a little better, and are therefore able to share with their loved ones more accurately too. For my readers who know or love someone with Fibro, I love that my writing puts a name and a face on the syndrome and brings it to life for them. 
It's terrifying to realize that I'm writing for a growing audience these days, but I am proud to. It feeds my soul and provides a real path for me to find peace within myself. I'm grateful for the gift of words, and I am so grateful to share my journey.