Living a Faith-Filled Life

You may wonder why some people write.  Is it just to "hear" themselves think?  Kind of like those who tend to talk to just to listen to themselves. 

I do think it's a valid reason to write. Maybe not to get published, but definitely to write.

Think about the purpose of a journal or a blog.  Now, I know blogs have other purposes, but for many (including me) it is a way of putting thoughts on a page or screen so that I can see what I think. Sometimes that's not appealing to others who may read this blog, but I try to write things here that might have meaning for others. Maybe they've thought that, too, so it's reaffirming.  Maybe they are looking for another opinion.  Maybe they haven't thought about it, and I'm getting them to mull it over for a moment.

I don't do journals.  I've tried. Tried. And tried again.  I can't keep them going, because they seem too self-centered.  And, well . . . I don't like spending that much time with myself.  I like spending time by myself, but not with myself.  (Does that make sense? It does to me.)

The blog is a little different. I'm not going to write down every little thought I have, what the weather is like, or indulge my moods UNLESS I think someone else might like to read it. By someone else, I really mean some ONE else.  Even one person. If I think they might be helped by it, find it funny, think it's thoughtful, or whatever, then I may post it.

As I write, I spill thoughts onto the page and watch them become sentences.  Most of them are complete sentences.  Some - not so much. Some are well thought out.  Others are half-baked. So be it. They're my thoughts, made public.

When I see them and re-read them, I discover some things about myself that I may not have known before. Until I write things out, sometimes I just don't realize what I'm really thinking or feeling.

Writing is a means of knowing myself better.

Maybe that's why I feel the compulsion to do it.

I think that's why a lot of writers write. Maybe not the primary reason, but I think it's usually there. Memoir writers often talk about how therapeutic writing is. Humor writers often poke fun at themselves. Every writer reveals something about herself when she writes. The revelations may be obvious or hidden, but they are there.