Sophomore in college. Junior year homecoming court representative & deemed Friendliest my senior year in high school. Writer. Girl with a pixie hair cut. Singer. Rachel and Taylor’s sister. Mark and Lori’s daughter—all these things describe me, but for a long, long time I believed that this was all I would be remembered by, all I would be known for. I love and have loved experiencing all these things, but I don't want these labels and depictions of me to be the only things that people think of when they hear my name now and in the future. I want to live a life that has substance and is worth something on its own.

(A few days ago in class)

The topic that was being discussed in one of my writing classes centered around the different types of writing, one being detached autobiography. (Honestly I have never heard about this type of autobiography, but I guess that's why I'm here at college: to learn). After lecturing for a while, the professor vented about his views on autobiographies and my age group: You are all too young to write an autobiography. You simply have not lived long enough to have a compelling story to tell. He couldn't possibly mean this as a dig to us; he is one of the sweetest professors, and is also extremely knowledgable in his field. He stated his opinion, and I'm fine with that.

I just don't agree with what he said.

Every person that I have come across and still have not yet met (AKA the rest of the world) have had to go through things in their life that is worth talking about, worth writing, and worth reading--it is bound to resonate with someone and be impactful. I know I just recently entered my 20s, haven’t been married yet, or even had my first “big girl job," but I have been forced to mature a lot over the years, and I just so happen to have an imagination. I believe that I, like you, have something worth telling.

I guess this blog is going to be a way of explaining who I am, was, and who I am slowly but surely becoming.

Reagan Fleming

“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”

— Anne Lamott