The first prompt to get us all thinking was, " What is your favourite part about writing?". I had a bunch of different ideas for posts already percolating around in my brain but I like this one. I think it speaks to everyone who decides to do this and who sticks with it.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes above any other reason is, it makes me think. It challenges my mind in a way the rest of my daily life does not. Writing, like reading another passion of mine, is not passive. It engages, you have to be present. I can watch a whole night of television and have no idea what I have seen only a couple of hours later. A book will keep me reading long after I should have gone to bed. Writing is the same.
It allows me to step outside my day, re examine, re assess, re think. It is a tap on the pause button, life can get hectic and away from you sometimes. I'm sure I'm not the only person to feel my life is living me, not the other way around. Stopping to write helps me to unwind, to appreciate things more than I would otherwise.
Because so much of my writing is dedicated to family, it is also a chronicle of sorts. It keeps me in touch when I am away. An active part of my rather enormous family not the cousin, son, grandson who makes it home a few times a year. In that respect, writing brings me an unexpected amount of comfort, connection.
There are a lot of other reasons to write, or favourite parts but I'll finish with it helps me find my voice. It doesn't matter if anyone ever hears it, I've done it. It allows me to speak on things that are serious or frivolous, but they are mine and important. It matters. If only to me.
Why do you write?
I think we, meaning our family, is just a creative lot. whether it's putting a seed into the ground and watching it grow, or quilting and drawing, or preparing a delicious meal, or turning a horse on a dime, -- quite a few of us seem to be brimming with creativity. Which is also probably why we are so connected; emotionally speaking. because we are in tune with not just ourselves - but the larger world around us. We "see".
ReplyDeleteFor me, my thoughts get all jumbled and foggy if I don't put some of them to paper. I think better afterward.
I agree, on both counts. We come from a capable family, can be a tough act to follow LOL
ReplyDeleteWriting helps me put things in order too. I had no idea how much I missed it.