Meet the author

Rachel Friesen

I started this blog to make space for my thoughts to dwell more cohesively and creatively. My goal was to motivate myself to write more.

Writing felt burdensome for me for such a long time. I was tormented internally by the pressure to achieve excellence or perfection; and as I looked around at the world, already bursting at the seams with voices far more eloquent and intelligent than my own, the idea of creating a space for myself to be heard exhausted me. I was already burnt out by a chronic need to validate the value of my existence based on intelligence, achievement or approval, in all other spheres of my life. Writing was just another means to achieve this self-validation. But what if the value of my voice wasn’t based upon excellence?

Rather than pursuing excellence or accomplishment, I want to rediscover enjoyment. I want to write, just because I love to write, and I want to write what I enjoy writing. Thus began this Blog, Whatever Comes to Mind.

This blog is a space for my voice. It isn’t about achievement, success, excellence or perfection. It isn’t about earning my place in the world. It isn’t about writing what I think others need or want to hear. Instead, it’s about rediscovering my present, embracing the journey, and finding my authentic voice in a world of chaos. It’s my way of embodying the value that comes from existence, and not achievement.

I write because I exist.