The Wordsmith Journal

 By The Wordsmith journal & The Hidden Haiku College is often portrayed as a time to build lifelong friendships, but in reality, it can be a place where trust is tested, and betrayal is an unwelcome guest. As a 20-year-old navigating the challenges of college life, I’ve learned that building meaningful friendships isn’t about having dozens of people in your life—it’s about having a few who genuinely care and support you through the highs and lows. The Pressure of Quantity: The Illusion of Popularity When I first arrived at college, I thought that the more people I knew, the better. I wanted to be the guy who was always surrounded by a crowd, the one with countless friends and connections. It seemed like that’s what everyone else was doing—trying to build their "social circle," stacking up friends like trophies. It felt like the more people you had, the more validation you would get. But after some time, I realized that this wasn’t the path to true fulfillment. In fact, ...

 By The Wordsmith journal & The Hidden Haiku The Poet Who Lives Between Lines They often ask me, “How does it feel to write like that?” And I never know how to explain that it doesn’t feel like writing— It feels like bleeding. Quietly. I’m 20 now. Old enough to carry the weight of a thousand unspoken emotions. Young enough to still believe that words can heal. I write not because I want to, but because I have to. My poetry doesn’t arrive with grand entrances or orchestras. It slips in like a midnight ache, a whisper only I can hear. And I know that if I don’t let it out, it’ll eat me from the inside. That’s what being a poet feels like—constantly translating pain into beauty. “Unwritten Goodbye” – A Name, A Feeling My blog isn't just a corner of the internet. It's a confession booth. Every poem I write here is a goodbye I never got to say. To people. To versions of me. To moments that stayed longer in my head than they did in reality. Unwritten Goodbye isn’t ju...

 By The Wordsmith journal & The Hidden Haiku children, haven't we all wondered about growing up and becoming adults? We dreamed of having unlimited freedom, doing whatever we pleased with no one to stop us—especially during those moments when our parents scolded us or restricted us from doing something. We'd imagine that adulthood meant complete freedom from restrictions. " I can't wait to grow up " I used to mutter beneath my breath. How wrong we were. Adulthood brings even more restrictions through responsibilities. We become confined by our own lives, constantly thinking about the future, feeling overwhelmed, always chasing something—whether it's building a career or maintaining relationships. The responsibilities seem endless. Instead of feeling free as we imagined, we find ourselves in servitude to our responsibilities, overthinking about the future. We often have to abandon our childhood dreams, ambitions, and even certain goals as we get ensn...

  By The Wordsmith journal & The Hidden Haiku The Comfort We Crave, The Cost We Ignore Haven’t we all been taught that taking risks is unnecessary—that it’s reckless, irresponsible, even dangerous? From a young age, we’re conditioned to follow the safe path: choose stability over uncertainty, stick to what we know, and avoid anything that could lead to failure or discomfort. We spend most of our lives yearning for comfort—familiarity, predictability, security. And while there is peace in constancy, there is also a silent cost: the goals we put on hold, the chances we do not take, the potential we do not realize. The truth is that all great tales, all discoveries, begin with a risk. We begin to associate risk with loss, rather than possibility. We’re told to color within the lines, not realizing that the most vibrant parts of life often exist beyond them. Yes, comfort feels good. There’s a kind of peace in knowing what tomorrow looks like Same roads, same people, same though...