Why should we write?

We write because we want a voice. Everyone, no matter how shy, outgoing, carefree, or flighty, wants to be seen, heard, felt, and known.

Society and history are based on what is written down and taken note of, but what we know from the past and from stories we haven't personally experienced comes only from those who care enough to write it down! Remembering the people, the lives, the deaths, the love stories, the laughs, the personalities, the moments that changed the courses of our lives even if the moments happened two hundred years ago is so important to our own personal growth and for society as a whole. Writing with your whole heart invested is the way to stamp these moments, these feelings, and these people into the minds of those who weren't there to experience it.

Putting my thoughts into literature has always been a way I have dealt with the good the bad and the ugly, but I have rarely shared my writing with anyone but myself, and now that I think about it, that is just so dumb. Why hide your personal thoughts and experiences, likes and dislikes from so many people who probably have the same!? There's nothing better than feeling like your words have just as much value to those around you as they do to you!

So, I am here to deliver kind-of an autobiography of myself in a way, just to get this new ball rolling and get my writing style out there, in hopes that I inspire others to put their thoughts and personalities on paper too!

My name is Hannah Watkins, and I am currently attending Georgia College and State University with a major in Marketing, and a concentration in Journalism. Milledgeville is by far the quirkiest town in America, (as all my fellow bobcats know), but I love this place more than anything. I dream of watching my children and family grow up as happily and plentifully as I did. St. Simons Island is the place I call 'home,' but I think 'home' is more of a feeling than a place. My life has been shaped by the sunshine and the waves that hit that little island off of the coast of Georgia. My family members are my best friends. There isn't a moment you won't find us laughing with (and at) each other. Four girls (counting our Mom) out-number poor Dr. Watkins everywhere we go, but he's far passed used to it.

They are my rock and my happiness, and I miss them more than most would ever admit. I have had a strong relationship with the Lord ever since I found my own faith one rainy morning three years ago on the beach that I grew up on, although I had grown up believing in Him on a surface level my whole life. In college I must still work extremely hard to stay closer and closer to Him, because obviously it is a tough atmosphere for Him to seem 'cool' in. I think I love my two dogs as much as I love my two sisters—I wish I was joking. I think about my future dogs like people think about their future kids (names and everything). I have a wonderful boyfriend, Rob, who I have been with for roughly the past year. We had the opportunity to work together in St. Simons for a summer, at a time when I wasn't even looking for something, and against all odds and us going to schools an hour and a half from one-another, we have made that summer never end. We try (and fail a lot of times) to keep God the center of our relationship, but in the end, this hilarious, kind, equally wholesome and handsome guy is my go-to-person and best friend, and I couldn't be happier.

I love messy hair and sunsets and nail polish and rings (when I can remember to wear them) and animals and museums and holding hands and Jimmy Fallon and going without makeup and journals and traveling and documentaries and funnel cakes and painting and big sweatshirts and feminism and writing and photography and the ocean and books and conspiracy theories and and blonde hair and yellow flowers and scary movies and mint chocolate chip ice cream and nature and interior design and body positivity and forehead kisses and the color red and tennis and spring and lemons in my water and running and the cold side of the pillow and worship songs and Mexican food and a clean shaven face and thrift stores and country music and crazy socks and young love and old love and carnivals and margaritas and tan lines and spoken word poetry and weight lifting and clean sheets and the smell of a wet dog and thunderstorms and riding with the windows down and stripes and music videos and freckles and hugs from behind and hand written letters.

I'm quirky and sarcastic and emotional and sappy and extremely passionate, but this is me!! And it feels good to put it in writing and tell whoever wants to know. This is who God created me to be, and I know he has great purpose for my life. Now it's my job to figure out what it is.

Now I, the girl of many words, encourage anyone and everyone to do the same thing. Find yourself in your writing and let it out!

Maya Angelou once said, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

And I agree wholeheartedly. Writing works, and is so important for us as individuals AND as a community, get up and get out and just write it down!!