“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” ~ John Lennon
I hadn’t gleaned the thought of writing anything tonight, nor had I any desire to do so. However, as I took notice of the many other writers sharing social media posts & commentary about their own frustrations & various roadblocks, I decided to reflect on this a bit & decided to write about why I write… or why I don’t write. Without any particular topic in mind, my words tonight are meant as a cathartic reminder for myself & hopefully for others who might be reading.
Life happens. Sometimes things happen beyond our control, but sometimes we simply need to take a breath, freeing ourselves from unsatisfying, exhausting attempts to be the perfect version of ourselves as a writer in order to please our readers. However, once we lose sight of ourselves & own pleasure, our written words can reflect this & the reader will notice as well. Here’s one of my favorite quotes I find quite fitting for this post & for writers in general.
“I write for myself & strangers. The strangers, dear readers are an afterthought “ ~ Gertrude Stein
Life happens. With every ebb & flow, take these moments (or years), attend to the needs at hand. Some writers are able to dive back into their work without skipping a beat. Others must take time to reflect, regroup or reinvent themselves & their work.
Life happens. Sometimes we need to escape from such mental rigidity, finding the contentment to write about “nothing,” yet more often than not, something always comes from nothing. I think I’ll try to make more time to let myself go – to write freely, without the self inflicted cognitive overload caused from laborious hours nitpicking my verbiage, format & flow.
I suppose I’ll consider this post a prologue, a precursor intended to spawn future posts, musings & observations about writers & writing. Stay tuned.
Reflection & Renewal 