Why I Write
Welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by — it means more to me than you know.
I wanted to share a bit about why I write, why I created this space, and what you can expect here.
Being a writer seems natural to me. I’m a thinker. My mind is often running a mile a minute — thinking about things to be done, curiosities, facts, ideas, questions, scenarios, musings — and writing is an outlet for all this ongoing thought. For me, writing eases this build-up. For me, writing is a release. Sometimes I find myself having to rush to a piece of paper or to the Notes app on my phone to jot these thoughts down, these strings of words that may be otherwise lost. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and something comes to me that I just have to put down on paper. To me, writing is a calling.
Growing up, I swear I wanted to have any and every profession under the sun. It’s like I opened up a careers dictionary starting at page 1 and proceeded through the alphabet — archaeologist, architect, civil engineer, dentist, fashion designer, teacher, vet. While I struggled to find one “thing” that felt right, I continually learned about myself and my interests peeked through. I couldn’t pick the one “thing”, but I was always drawn to writing things down — writing down plans, writing down words or phrases I liked the sound of, writing down song lyrics that I connected to. In middle school, I began keeping notes in a pastel blue notebook with flowers on the cover. I wrote little poems, jotted down sentences or combinations of words that I found appealing. I wrote about boys I liked and nice things they said to me, so that I could remember. These pre-pubescent ramblings might be a bit embarrassing to look back at now, but ultimately this is what got my gears going and I know I should be thankful for that. A few years ago I read Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life and her concept of “shitty first drafts” is one that stuck with me. I think it’s important to remember that shitty writing is typically the starting point for everyone — the act of writing is humbling and it’s a continual trial & error learning process. As uncomfortable as it might be to look back now at what I wrote then, I don’t think we should be ashamed of past work of ours because it’s gotten us to where we are today. It served a purpose at the time — an outlet for creativity. Regardless of the quality of the content, I was still getting my words down and learning how to write.
I’ve always shied away from calling myself a writer for a whole host of reasons (AKA excuses) — a writer has their works published, a writer writes full-time, a writer has formal writing training, etc. These three points may (or may not) be true about an author, but anyone can be a writer — quite simply, anyone who writes is a writer. It’s taken me a while to come around to this, but I’ve now accepted that, yes, I am a writer. I am a reader, a thinker, a writer, and this is a space to share my thoughts.
Writing is my therapy; other writers are my therapists. Writing helps me get it all out, so my thoughts aren’t swimming around as much, ripe for the picking, waiting to be dissected over and over and over again. And reading, for me, is a way to disconnect, but also connect — connect and relate to the stories of others and appreciate beautifully strung-together language.
Peoples’ words have always resonated with me — be they lines from books, lyrics from songs, quotes, or even something I overhear a stranger say in passing. Sometimes it’s just such a perfect arrangement of words and sounds and meaning that you can’t help but be captivated by it. I’ve always felt so connected to good writing and having this same impact on others would be an absolute dream come true for me. That’s what I’m striving for here — that’s what this space is for. I want people to connect with my writing and feel seen through it. And if this encourages others to also follow their own creative pursuits (writing or other), what a wonderful thing that is too.
So, what can you expect here? I don’t always stick to one format, so what you get might be a bit of a mixed-bag. I don’t like putting myself in a box. I think that’s why I resisted sharing my writing for so long, because I thought I had to choose just one thing to write about. But I don’t… and I won’t! What you can expect are some inner ramblings, some topics of interest (on writing, on reading, on career, on wellness, on life), some essays, some stories, some longer-form pieces, and some poetry.
This space is for you, but it’s also for me — for me, this is about self-discovery and self-realization. Looking back, I always wrote for myself — and for years, only kept it to myself. Not because of fear or judgement or anything like that. I truly don’t know why, but it felt like something worth waiting for. I genuinely wanted to feel ready. I wanted to give it my all. I wanted to give myself the best shot of sticking with this. I wanted to wait. But now, I’m done waiting.
This is something I have to do for me. To finally do something about my writing. To finally share it somewhere. This is more for me than for anyone else. However, I do hope that what I have to say resonates with you and that you feel seen through my writing.
In WorkParty, entrepreneur Jaclyn Johnson writes, “If it’s all you can think about, it’s time to give it a go.” I know it’s my time to give it a go — I can’t deny it anymore.