My Therapy

I've always found writing to be a cathartic process. Something that enables you to get out your feelings, using all the words you know in order to do so. And part of being a good writer is to practice your craft. To spend time putting words on a piece of paper, linking thoughts and ideas, weaving a story, that can be so simple, or so complex, but either way it offers some sort of closure to a story inside of you.

So, why did I ever stop doing it? I think part of the problem was thinking that if I wrote something, I would have to show it to people. And what if it wasn't good enough? I love writing, and if someone told me I wasn't good at it, I think it would crush it out of me.

Not that I think I am some great writer, ready to be sold on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. I'm hopeful that one day I could be at that level, but I'm not disillusioned.

So, what is it about writing that helps my soul?

Words are a passion of mine. I love vocabulary, and learning new words. Honestly, the thesaurus is one of my favorite books. I think that words are a gift. To be able to use them, and manipulate them into meaning something beautiful is breathtaking to me. And I really mean that. When I read something beautifully written, it literally takes my breath away.

And to think that I might have the power to use words to take someone else's breath away is both inspiring and horrifying. Letting someone read your work is an intensely personal thing. When you write something, it is literally a part of you, poured out on to paper. And to think that I could share that much of myself with another person is terrifying. Sometimes, I don't even know what is happening inside of me, to share it with another person is… scary. But to know that someone else could read my words, and laugh, or cry, or even relate, is both humbling and exhilarating.

And to think all of this is possible because of words.

Words are defined as this: a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representations that function as a principal carrier of meaning.

And to me, that's what being a writer is. To be a carrier of meaning. And to share that meaning with whatever world is around you. No matter how frightening that may be.