So Simple, yet So Profound

"If you want to be a writer, write.  There's no secret formula or hidden cheat.  Just write.  Write all the time, not because you have to, but because your world simply won't make sense if you don't."   Jen Lancaster

Anyone who's known me for any length of time knows that I love to read and I LOVE to write.  I go through phases where it's all I want to do.  I can sit down with a good book and loose myself for hours in the pages that become my reality, or rather my escape from it.  Likewise,  I can take the simplest of writing tasks and wordsmith it into a masterpiece comparable to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.  There have been times in my life when the only thing that makes sense is to put pen to paper.  Be it lyrics, poetry, short stories, ranting tangents in my journal; it doesn't matter.  I just have to get it out.  And I think I'm good at it.  I write it exactly like I'd say it and exactly the way I see it.  If someone doesn't like it, that's their problem.  It's the one "place" where I have the utmost confidence.  I allow myself to be totally open, absolutely honest and completely hopeful.  I miss that kind of certainty in my life. Sometimes I say things just to hear what people think. Why else would I write in such a public forum?  I want to be heard. I don't necessarily care what people think about what I write, but I want to hear their opinions and learn from their perspective.  I love reading comments.

It's been so long since I really and truly 'detoxed' my cranium via paper and pen.  I need to do it more often.  I've come to realize it's like the glue that keeps me together.  Sharing my thoughts, feelings, ideas, hopes, dreams, wishes, pains and sorrows is what helps me feel human.  I need to be heard.  I need to know I matter.   

I've often thought it would be THE coolest occupation EVER to be an author.  I mean, really?  Who doesn't want to get paid for doing something they love?  Who doesn't want to have the freedom to be completely imaginative and totally creative just to spite the droning monotony that becomes our daily lives from Monday to Friday?  To have an idea and make it a reality.  To start with a simple thought or concept and chase it through all of the magical twists and mysterious turns as it develops and evolves into a journey unlike any other.  And then to see the way your thoughts and words take shape in the minds of others.  To write with heart and substance; logic and reasoning be damned.

Once upon a time, I started writing a book.  I've worked on it off and on for several years.  I go through phases where I can write like crazy; the ideas flow like rivers in my mind and I can hardly type fast enough to get them all out before I lose the substance of what I’m feeling or thinking right then.  And then, for no apparent reason sometimes, my brain just shuts down.  It’s downright maddening at times.  I know there’s more in there but I can’t find the words to make it come out.  

Bottom line.  I need to write.  I need to write more.  I need to write more often.  Because my life simply makes more sense when I do.