It seems suitable to kick off May and also restart my concerted effort to write regularly again with a challenge by #whyshewrites – as first noticed by a fellow writer @kamsinkaneko from #theslowpath.
I have been meaning to get myself back into the habit, but, well, excuses abound and one thing leads to another so that time passes without me sitting down to the computer and posting.
There are pages written in my journal, but it is not quite the same as processing it enough to post for general consumption.
In any case, here is first of the challenge:
Share the reason why you write.
When I first began writing, it was to remember what was happening in my life. Things were always changing, people were coming and going, but I could not keep it all straight in my eight-year-old mind. My memories were fleeting, which I somehow understood was not normal for my age.
Besides that, I did not have a lot of friends to reminisce with as they would get left behind whenever I had to move. So, writing became a kind of friend for me.
As time went on, I wrote for my sanity. I realized I was an introvert and people did not always understand me when I tried to verbally express myself. So, I took to writing.
In school, I found that my writing connected with people. Thus, it became the way my voice could be heard and a sharing of my personality.
Then, writing became a necessity. Without my journal, I would probably have jumped off the ship of life long ago. Even though no one will likely read all of my words, at least I get them out of my head in some form. It’s a way of processing and organizing my thoughts so that I can try to express the crazy in a way others might be able to comprehend. In this way, I can test out my random thoughts in a more ‘normal’ way.
These days, I write with the intention of building a discipline to eventually write the stories of my life experiences to share with the world. As I talk with more people, I have come to accept that my life has a uniqueness that might have some value in sharing with others.
Although my life is not yet structured in a way to write full-time (or maybe it’s another excuse?), I am trying to create the best structures and patterns (though it’s a constant struggle) to be able to reach my lifelong dream of writing the story of my life.
So, this is why I write.
~T π
