Writing is the one thing I do that has no immediate reason. No one is compelling me to do it. There is no term paper due. There is no email to respond to. There is no publishing house demanding copy. Yet, I am drawn to paper and pen each day, and write on the computer most days as well.
I wasted a lot of energy worrying about the value of my writing. I even stored a decade’s worth of newspaper clippings hoping there was some lasting worth in those words that I had put down. I have no reason to save this; there is still microfilm at the public library. God preserve the libraries!!
The reason to write is that there is something innate in us where we must create. To give testimony, to bear witness, to document and process and even share.
I picked up the pictured little bookmark in 1994 from a Hallmark shop, which was one of my favorite stores as a kid. At age 18, I scanned the display of occupation bookmarks, I picked up this card, read it, and knew at once that writing was my jam. Thirty years later, I am still finding new things to write about. I keep showing up at the desk and summoning the muse. Results have varied as they always do. The card is well worn and is pinned to the bulletin board next to my writing desk. I hadn’t read it for a while, but it has traveled from home to home, office to office, desk to corkboard. It has traveled well.
I self-published a book for no real reason. No one was asking me to do it. It is something that came from me and needed to be released and I published it to see if anyone would read it. That was nearly ten years ago. “Stress Fracture: A Memoir of Psychosis” has reached readers who felt moved enough by the story to send mail and write reviews. Not a ton mind you, but enough to validate the effort. I shared by choice. No one was asking me to. The words that came out helped me grow and gave me hope.
Other times the words that come out amuse me. Sometimes, they inspire me. I figure, maybe I’m not the only one feeling this way. Maybe someone else would like to be amused or inspired. This is my reason for sharing to connect with readers. My office is full of journals, poetry with sketches, unfinished manuscripts, etc. In this faze of my career, I am curating that accumulation. Finding those gems that do spark joy.
The scripture on the card is about brimming with so much information that it must be shared as eye-witness testimony. All of us have seen and heard things worth proclaiming. For someone skilled in the art of written communication, it is our desire to scribe.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” 1 John: 1-4
In my coaching business, people ask me what is “authentic writing.” To me, creative authenticity is when you chase your assumptions of truth through your writing, trying to capture a moment in time for others to maybe read. It is an act of giving testimony to your interpretation and imagination. ...
An interesting thing happened to me recently while at the title company; the associate needed me to give my occupation. I stated, “writer.” She quickly followed up by asking what I write. I paused unsure how much to share. In that space, my realtor rescued me by saying, “She writes ...
One Response
“I have no reason to save this; there is still microfilm at the public library.” I’d still save it all–paper is a very long-lived medium. Microfilm is considered fire-proof and flood-proof, but someday microfilm readers will only be found in museums.