"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe." - Gustave Flaubert

I have been asked a few times in the past weeks why I have made the decision to write for the Odyssey and why I write in general. So why not answer that question with another article? The answer is simple, really. I write because sometimes the words are just too hard to think of on the spot. I write because it is a way to creatively express who I am. I write because I love having the ability to let the words flow from my fingertips with ease. I write for me.

Something that some people know about me is that I don't have many passions in life, but the ones I have, take up my whole life. I am passionate about teenagers, so I am a youth leader. I am passionate about children, so I am in school to be a teacher and I teach at church. I am passionate about writing, so I write.

Admittedly, I do not write as much as I would like to. In high school, I was in multiple creative writing classes and I had a journal full of short stories that I wrote. Nowadays, life just seems to get in the way. When I was presented with the opportunity to write for Odyssey every week, I jumped. The thought of once again having the outlet to let my creativity flow was enough to make me interested. Now I am able to write every week about a variety of subjects that I would never think of writing before. Though this process, I have also been able to learn about myself.

I have learned that I love people more than I thought. I have always been a very shy person and it takes me a long time to open up to people. Through my articles, I have been able to articulate the genuine love I have for those around me. More love than I even realized I had. Almost every article I have written ha included a piece about the love I have for my church or the people in my church or other important people in my life.

Through the articles I write every week for Odyssey, I have rekindled the love I have for writing. For that, I am eternally grateful. While I struggle to fit in the article into my busy schedule, I have never doubted for a minute that I love to write. Once I get my laptop in front of me and my fingers start to fly across the keyboard, I can feel the wheels turning in my brain and the words begin to flow effortlessly.

For those of you who feel as though you need a way to express yourself, try writing. Let those creative juices flow from your fingers to the paper or to the keyboard. After each article, I can take a sigh of relief because all of the stress I have felt that week has been, at least temporarily, taken off the table because I was able to let the stress out through my keyboard. So write. Write to feel better about a specific situation. Write to relieve stress. Write to express yourself. Write for you.