Why write?

Why do we write?  We may write just for ourselves, with no intention of anyone ever reading what we’ve written, such as we might do in a journal or diary.  In the past we probably wrote because someone told us that we need to, such as a teacher giving us a writing assignment.  Now, when we are free from “supposed to,” and are drawn to “want to,” now why do we write?

I’m sure the reasons are as varied as the writers.  There are multitude conversations that we have every day, every moment, most of them never uttered.  They are contained in our brains, and carried out with others, with ourselves, with the Almighty.  These conversations seek to justify our thoughts, our feelings, maybe even our actions, as we review the events of our lives.  Why do we want to put these conversations into writing and expose them to a larger audience?

There are thoughts that you have when you see something that you think maybe others haven’t seen and you’d like them to consider another (your) perspective, maybe in order to validate your view and to convince them that your way is more right, better in some way.

You may be trying out your understandings, testing them and trying to describe what you have seen in and about the world.  You may do this to see if your ideas may set off a vibration, a resonance in the heart and mind of your reader.  Maybe if you get positive feedback your perspective will be validated.  Each of us necessarily writes from a unique perspective; no one else is backed by our exact life experiences, our learnings, our catalog of readings, the shaping of our years.

The Shaping of Our Years

We look in the mirror

We note the shape

That the years have given

Our bodies to take

Diet, exercise

Things we’ve ingested

All of the living in which

We’ve invested

Though we don’t have mirrors

Of our minds and souls

The years have shaped them, too

Into our present whole

We each have a rich lode

Grown through time

An image of God if

We work these mines

My life is not yours

And yours is not mine

The differences show

A rich trove from time

May I take the time

To see

The shapings of the years

In your beauty.

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Thank you for writing, for sharing your shapings.