Why do I write?

Of coops and lost words

Image by @aaronburden

What does it take to break a writing streak? A broken keyboard and a broken heart is what. Coffee did in one and Life did in the other.

A good screw driver fixed one and time healed the other — and yet the words that flew the coop did not come home to roost. No, they just flew away, disappeared into the stormy sky in the middle of the rain and never came home.

For days I’d open Medium and nothing would come to mind. I’d rustle the nest and no words fell out. Okay, that’s a lie. Some words fell out. Incomplete poems, terrible critiques, short quiet musings of a misguided mind. All unworthy of being raised from the blight of Draft to the wonderful kingdom of Published.

And so, as comes to all wannabe philosophers at some time in their lives, I asked why. Why do I write? Why do I put my thoughts out here where they may be seen by all who wish to see them? Why do I let my mind wander the fields of imagination and feeling and create prose and poem to fill this screen?

I do not know.

Catharsis? True to a degree. I will admit the wanton forays into poetry are more journal than anything else. To put feeling into words is so refreshing. You, my dear reader are the quiet psychiatrist, and I share my story, asking myself the questions and telling you the answers. It is an interesting relationship we have, you and I — And I’m not even paying for it.

Passion? Hmmmm… Good choice. Am I passionate about writing? I’m an OK writer. The last editor I had agreed to that after I invited them for lunch. You can’t talk crap about someone if they’re paying for lunch. Definitely not a biased opinion. I wouldn’t call it passion, more a liking…

Because I like it? I think so. I think I write because I want to. Because there is beauty in capturing a floating idea and wringing it into words. There is the mesmerizing process of taking thought and adding colour, making it a digestible set of squiggles on a screen or on paper. It’s art, it’s beautiful and it makes me whole.

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I don’t think I need the words to fly back into their nest. I’ll nurse some new ones. They will light up the sky with the beating of their wings. They will turn breeze into storm, and with every stop they will spread idea and feeling. They will be unstoppable.

So why do I write? Because it’s fun.

#Passion #Writing