This Is Not a Mission Statement; It’s Just the Way It Is

Daily writing prompt
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

We’ve been trained to expect clarity.
To believe every big feeling must end with a moral—
A neat conclusion, a TED Talk takeaway, a three-step solution.

But here’s the truth, I keep chewing like nasty gristle:

Some things don’t resolve.
Some stories stay jagged.
And some blogs, this one especially, aren’t built to clean up after your pain.
They’re built to leave it on the floor, still breathing.


I started Memoirs of Madness because I didn’t know what else to do with the words.

Over a decade ago, someone said every writer needed a blog if they were serious. I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t know if I was serious. I just knew I had things in me that wouldn’t stay quiet.

I wrote because I needed to. Still do.
Not to change the world. Not to craft a brand.
But because silence costs too damn much.


So when you ask me, “What change do you want your blog to make?”
I honestly don’t know.
And that’s not me being evasive. That’s me refusing to lie to you.

I could dress it up. Tell you it’s about healing. About expression. About building a community for the unseen. All of which might be true, sometimes. But defining that change in a singular, bite-sized way would flatten what this space actually is.

This blog isn’t one thing.
It’s a mirror that distorts and reveals depending on how the light hits.
It’s rage on Monday, softness on Tuesday, confession by Thursday, and grief that overstays its welcome every damn Sunday.


If Memoirs of Madness changes anything, I hope it changes the way you think about being unfinished.

I hope it disrupts that polished self you wear in front of strangers.
I hope it reminds you that not knowing is still worthy of a voice.
Those messy, unresolved, and unsellable truths still deserve the page.

I hope this blog pisses you off sometimes.
Not because I’m aiming to provoke, but because something buried in you recognized itself and flinched.

Because it sure as hell pisses me off—
dragging up things I thought I buried,
making me admit shit I’d rather leave unsaid.
That’s how I know it’s honest.


So no, I didn’t build this place to change the world.
I built it to survive mine.

And if, by some luck or accident, it helps you survive yours—
then maybe that’s the kind of change that matters most.


This is beyond my control …

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

PROSE – INTROSPECTION

I completely misread this question. So, I spent the last few hours formulating an answer to a question that hadn’t been asked. I’m taken back a bit by my actions. I’ve ranted at great length about people’s responses about the things I say. Especially when they miss something or don’t allow me to finish my statement. To their defense, I’ll admit there are times I can be a tad loquacious. So, tuning me out may be a survival mechanism. I get it.

Over a decade ago, the trend was every writer needed a blog or website if they were serious about writing. I haven’t met any writer who wasn’t serious about writing. No matter the degree of skill or dedication, no writer wants to be excused for not being serious about the craft. I suppose there may be some. I haven’t met them, and I’m okay with that.

If you’re still reading, I know it’s taking a minute to get to whatever point I’m trying to make, but I’ll get there as soon as I can. I think the problem resides in the fact I wasn’t aware it needed to be anything more than what it is. However, now that it’s been brought up, let me work my way through this sticky wicky.

Now, I’m going to give a bit of history of Khan before he was Khan. If that even a thing? I dated a girl once, and I believed she was my girlfriend. I say I believe because when you’re a teenager, the girls set your relationship status. You have no say in the matter; even if you had something to say, I doubt they actually pay attention.

There was a lot of talking on the phone and promises made with the purest intentions. If I’m not mistaken, love might have been used on occasion. It was all quite innocent, really. Cute even, TV movie cute. I wrote her a letter, we did those things back then. We wrote down our thoughts and feelings, put them in an envelope, and mailed them. Then, waited on pins and needles, hoping their response was something favorable.

Her response wasn’t ideal by any stretch of my imagination, but what it did do was unlock Khan. For this, I’m indebted.

As it relates to the question…

What change or impact do I want my blog to make? This can’t be my focus. The change or impact of my blog has very little to do with me. My focus must be this…

My focus must be to write these feelings, ramblings, and rants. I’ve committed myself to sharing them. Their impact is beyond my control.

I am Mangus Khan, and these are my memoirs.

The Memoirs of Madness.