Sex and secrets sell, I I have neither of those to offer, therefore what I am writing has no monetary value. It does, though, have a value to me and it's priceless. No amount of discouragement nor directional accusations can change that. I write because there's a voice inside me that is conveyed better in print than off of my lips.

I am and always will be a lover of reading. It can transport me to experience another person's life, instill hope when I'm hurting or become a source of self-help when I need healing. Because of this love for reading, I have written in journals for years. Obviously, it was not to become famous or infamous because if it were, I promise you the subject would be a Lifetime Original movie titled, "What Not To Do". I write because the paper doesn't argue, it doesn't judge and if I have chosen to release my inner demons, I can rip up the paper and burn it. My hurts become nonexistent as they turn to ash and the smoke rises until it's no longer visible. Not to mention, it lessens the chances of it falling into the hands of someone who might actually admit me into the nearest insane asylum.

Writing for me is therapeutic.

There is a downfall in that there will always be that one person that automatically thinks that THEY are the reasons for your writing. That somehow, in the midst of all the issues in life, struggling for happiness and acceptance, that somehow they have earned some kind of honorary, golden seat and have become your sole purpose for writing. To dispel these narcissistic ideas, I can only say this: writing is a passion and it is MY passion. I write because it's something I've always done and at the very least, it is me putting MYSELF on display for the world to view, not for any particular person.

Writers don't write because they want controversy ( at least I don't), they write because it's an alternate form of breathing. It is the inhaler for an asthma sufferer, a band-aid for the bleeder and an escape for the victim. Writing allows me to put my thoughts, deepest fears, and concerns onto paper. With every click of the keyboard my lungs exhale and my mind becomes clear. I've yet to cross the boundaries of what I would really like to share because so much of my life and details of my past involve people that are still in my present (did your ears perk up?). I have so much to tell, so much to say but unfortunately, we live in a society of offensiveness that strangulates writing abilities to different versions of subliminal messages.

It has become truth with a vignette border, shading the exterior to enhance the obvious. Not every article will be noble, not every article will be encouraging, but every article will allow me to be true to myself despite how others feel.

If I am able to articulate my life in all its craziness and somehow it reflects the struggles of someone else, helping them feel less alone, is that not reason enough to do what I do?

In the grand scheme of things, we read as an escape, for knowledge, curiosity, enlightenment, instruction and for some - pure enjoyment. I write for those same reasons.

I am not a world renowned author, a motivational speaker and my words will most likely never pay my mortgage. But they will be the proof that on a day when life wasn't perfect (because it never is) I, among the millions of cohabitants upon this earth, existed and I had something to say.

If you want to know who someone really is, what makes them "tick", or what resonates in their thoughts, I challenge you to take a moment to read and hear what they are truly saying. Take yourself out of the equation if it touches "too close to home", take the words with a grain of salt and try to listen without preconceived assumptions and allow that person the freedom to express themselves in whatever way they deem necessary.

Be open, be objective, and more than anything, do not steal their voice or attempt to stifle them. Their writing may be the only way they know how to speak.

To all those that find their passion in writing, those that step out in complete vulnerability and subject yourself to ridicule at the expense of self-exposure: Do NOT QUIET yourself, do not allow what others think or feel muzzle you. You were given this gift for a reason and if it heals no one else besides you, that reason alone SHOULD AND WILL always be enough.

It is not what you see on the outside that makes a person real...it is the unseen, the innermost being that collectively makes us who we are.