Why I Write
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Why I Write

My real-time response to feeling.

112
Why I Write
Ava Frazier

Writing is my real-time response to feeling. Sometimes it’s text message rants to my best friend about my perceived meaning of life. Like when that screwed up old white guy killed fifty-eight people in my hometown on the festival grounds that my friends and have been to countless times so I had to write my way back into a headspace of hope. Sometimes my stream of consciousness falls into my notes app in the form of a half-written song that I may or may not ever read again. Like when my friends and I drove through rural Virginia with the convertible top down. No video can capture the way your limbs tingle when the car pulls to a stop at the end of a long drive. The way your hair feels like it’s floating when it’s really just matted at the top of your head. The way your mind, body, and soul all feel lighter. Other times it’s scribbles in the corner of my math textbook when I get too anxious to pay attention in class or a funny moment that’s interesting enough to tweet but somehow not specific enough to illicit the response I’m looking for from the "Salmonella is a Myth" group chat.

My favorite part about writing is that it glorifies your pain. I take these messy little blurbs of emotion that happen in public and I turn it into something whole when I’m in private. There’s something very comforting to me in knowing that my creation will inevitably be more beautiful than the way I felt inside. No matter how ugly and raw it spills onto the page, it will always be better. More validating. Vulnerably real yet easy to hide behind. After all, isn’t that what happens with romanticized artists century after century? We connect with the deep, emotional, usually kind of depressing shades they use, but we’re not as concerned about why they see in these colors, much less if we’re supposed to do something about it.

But when you write about something ugly and you make it pretty, your audience sees their ugly as pretty too. I think that’s the gratifying part. You write about that guy who ran you in circles and sure enough there’s a girl out there who is also running in circles but now she realizes how ridiculous is it that she’s even running at all. So she stops. Or you write about the moment you came back to yourself and sure enough there’s a guy out there who needed something, or someone to bring him back to himself too. It’s connection. Simple yet complicated. Pure yet severely intricate, but beautiful. Oh, so beautiful. Because what could ever be more striking than human connection through the one thing that makes you feel like you know what the hell you’re doing for once? So, I write to make sense of it for myself and I write for when they can’t make sense of it for themselves. I write because I want to and I write because I need to. Writing is my hobby. Writing is my passion. Maybe someday writing will be my job, but writing will always be the funnel in which my emotions turn into lessons, the voice inside my head forcing me to grow, and the strength I need when it’s too early in the day to go home and hide under the covers. My real-time response to feeling.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

58741
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

37882
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

959433
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

194895
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments