Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
Why do I enjoy writing?
When did I realize that I wanted to be a writer?
I get these two questions often.
I have asked myself the same questions, and have thought long and hard how to answer them.
As I recall, I developed a passion for writing in the late 1980’s when I first began to journal as a healthy coping skill to help me deal with stressful life events. It eventually became something I enjoyed doing on a consistent basis. And, I also love reading, and reading and writing go hand-in-hand.
However, it wasn’t until 1996 while on a flight during the Christmas holiday that I began seriously thinking about my desire to become a published author, even though my first book wasn’t published until 2011.
Here are 16 reasons why I continue to write: Writing helps me:
- Get still to hear my own thoughts
- Prevent emotional fatigue
- Connect with a deeper part of myself
- Cope with life’s stressors
- Refocus to avoid distractions
- Gain healing and to help others obtain their own healing
- Inspire and empower others
- Feel a connection to my deceased mother because she was an excellent writer and instilled the importance in me of being able to communicate both verbally and in writing
- Record things I am grateful for as well as milestones
- Purge feelings of fear, disappointment, frustration, and doubt
- Create stories centered around every day and social issues and invent characters who are raw, relatable, flawed, yet have redeeming qualities
- Connect with others around the world
- Be transparent, be authentic and share life lessons learned over the years from the mistakes I have made in life
- Stimulate thought-provoking conversations with others
- Encourage others to never give up on their goals and dreams
- Avoid overeating
Writing to me is like gasoline to an automobile, without it,
I would be immobilized.
