Some people write because it’s part of their job. People send emails and newsletters. People write stories and letters to express love or sympathy or to say thank you. Sometimes people write letters just to say “hi” (I personally think this should be done more often). Students write papers, much to their dismay. I remember the days of passing notes in class, when you had to be sneaky so that your note wouldn’t be intercepted by the teacher. Nowadays, it’s easier to just hide your phone under the desk and send a quick text to a friend.
I know that I’ve personally used writing in many different forms and in various aspects of my life for many years. It’s something that most people learn at an early age. It’s a fundamental skill. In school, all children learn to read, write and do basic math problems. Some of those students go on to be famous authors or songwriters or journalists. Many others just use writing to get by in daily life, but it never holds any special meaning to them. I think that writing gets a bad reputation in that regard. It’s viewed as a chore. I know that writing plays a different role in everybody’s lives, and it’s not meant to be something that everyone is in love with, however, I do not think that it deserves the negativity that it gets. I may be biased, but I don’t think people should always groan and roll their eyes when they have to write or that they should feel like writing is forced upon them.
I write because it’s what I’m passionate about. It makes me happy to put a pen to paper or to sit in front of a computer and type for a while. In fact, at the end of last year, I made a resolution to sit down and write something on my computer every day in 2016. I currently have a Word document that is 119 pages long and contains 23,644 words. And I’ll admit, some days I just sit there and stare at a blank page for a while because I don’t know what to say or I just don’t want to write at all. It doesn’t always come easy, but at the end of the day, there’s not much else that I’d rather be doing. Yes, I write papers and emails and letters and I am certainly not in love with every form of writing, nor am I always happy with the content that I produce.
It’s a continual growing process. I don’t know if I’ll ever write something that I think is perfect. Chances are I could go through everything I’ve written and pick it apart and revise the heck out of it, and I may still not be completely satisfied. But I am no stranger to change, and I’m learning to not be afraid of it as much as I used to be. It’s that growing process that helps to turn you into the person you’re meant to be.
