I write because it’s one of the times I feel most like myself.
I write because, like others, I need a place to re-tell my story and process it’s twists and turns. I trace my fingers over the memories of the day or last year, reading the raised braille of the faces I have held, the places I have lived, the grief and the love I have learned.
I write because the words want out.
I write because I love an unexpected love letter.
And that’s how this space feels. It feels like God writes letters to me via me.
It’s as if there is a message I need to decode before I can understand it. So, I sit and tap, tap, tap this keyboard until the meaning surfaces like lemon juice writing held over a flame.
I hit “publish” on the post and then go back to read it with fresh eyes and I catch a whisper of a message He intended just for me.
I write because you and I are both listening.
OK, your turn.
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“I write to taste life twice; once in the moment and once in retrospection.” – Anais Nin
That is such a wonderful quote – thank you for sharing it with us!
Ooh! Great quote!! I also really loved this post. I never thought of myself as a writer until a year ago. I was a journaler…I process outloud, so I needed to get my thoughts out in words to sort it all out. Then I started realizing that I wanted to share it with others. So that’s why I write: to share, to record, to connect, to understand. I’m interested to see what others say.
Do you read Ann Voskamp? She writes beautifully about the art and calling of journaling. She is teaching me about it through what she shares. Can’t recommend highly enough.
I just recently discovered her…and I’m amazed by what she writes. I guess I haven’t been reading that long though because I haven’t seen her say anything about journaling. Now I’m gonna go search her site.
I write because I can’t not write. Because I love the pictures of life I get to see and live, and I have to paint them with words. To remember them. Like you, Lisa-Jo, I also go back and read it after I’ve published it, “with fresh eyes and I catch a whisper of a message He intended just for me.” Thank you for putting words to that.
p.s. I am so glad that you write. =)
Yes, painting word pictures – me too, Bria. And I am so glad you write as well. Who would’ve thought we would find each other again in a space such as this? It’s no South Bend, but it’ll do, eh?
I write because words are art … and though I’m more of a finger-painting on newsprint kind of artist and not an oils on canvas one … art inspires, art encourages, and art points to beauty that defies words. I write because sometimes the words are too small … and in that I find the God who is so big.
Your finger painting with words takes my breath away!
I write because it pulls from the depths things in life that need to be brought to Light. I write because He speaks through words as I’m finding them, He is writing my heart. I write because when I stand back after all is finished, I know I couldn’t have done it on my own. I write because it brings a fresh perspective and I also read His heart for me in it. I write because His words lay on my heart and I need release; where I also discover more of HIM. I write because He humbles me through it.
“as I’m finding them, He is writing my heart.” ~ yes, that’s exactly how I feel too, Tammy!
“And that’s how this space feels. It feels like God writes letters to me via me.”
Incredible! You just gave me goosebumps.
Nell
I write because I express myself better in writing than out loud. I’ve had many things I’ve wanted to share with my family for years and couldn’t, until I started writing.
Beautifully written. Thank you.
I write because if I don’t….I’ll FORGET it all!
I write because if I don’t…my head will surely combust!
I write because sometimes the thoughts in my head are exactly what someone else wanted to hear or needed to see said by someone else because they just aren’t quite brave enough to say it themselves or couldn’t say it.
I write because I can.
I write because otherwise the words will eat away at my insides.
That’s a powerful image – yes, me too.
i too write because i will forget.
i write to share with my friends and family who are not physically close.
Yes, words can build a wonderful bridge – can’t they?
I write to figure out what I am thinking.
I write to keep a written record of things I want to do so they don’t just disappear into the ether.
I write to be known.
“To be known”- yes, that’s a powerful one, isn’t it. Sometimes I wonder what it is we want people to know about us; and then what do we want them to do with what they have discovered.
The important thing is that you keep writing. You are so talented. I love what you are saying, God writing to you, through you. It is wonderful.
Gosh, thank you. Thank you for being there to listen to what I write. Like someone who loves to cook, a writer is always delighted to discover folks who enjoy eating what she serves up.
“I write because the words want out.”
Oh yes sistah. Sing it!
Yea, between meetings and commuting and getting dinner on the table, words knock around on my insides. They tug at me until I can’t stand it any longer and am desperate to release them out my fingers. ~Catharsis.
I write because the feelings don’t make sense without words attached to them.
I write because, like Adam before me, I must name things. This is love, this is grief, this is joy….
And, like others, I write because I am pathologically forgetful. I think there must be a name for that somewhere too, or maybe I shall make one:)
“I write because, like Adam before me, I must name things.” Wow – just wow. Those are some remarkable words. They touch a deep truth I hadn’t thought about before. But it’s gonna burrow deep into my mind this weekend, that’s for sure!
Thanks Lisa Jo:) I’m glad it struck a chord with you as well. Thanks for popping in on my blog.
I write because sometimes it’s the only way for me to listen to what’s going on inside.
I write because otherwise my brain will explode
I write because it makes me think, feel, and love more.
One of the reasons I write is because someone, a long time ago, told me I could. Which, coincidentally (really), is what I wrote about today.
Also, there’s something about the place I get to when I’m in a writing flow. (I hate to be silly and quote myself, but there’s something about the way I said it that really sticks with me.) When I write, I swim in a sea of words. I gather them in baskets and spread them on the shore to dry. I pause to admire them, triumphantly. And often, in the admiring, I see things so much more clearly than I ever thought I could.
And I write on my blog, especially, because often the comments and feedback, the relationships I build, the friendships I develop, make the writing seem less like some kind of proclamation, and more like a conversation. And I love it.
i just took a big happy deep sigh because that image – swimming in a sea of words and drying them for your inspection on the sand – gosh but that is gorgeous! Yes, me too. Both the swim, the capture and the community. It’s the perfect trifecta, isn’t it?
I write to speak. I am not a writer (you can tell that if you have read any of my post) but i fill God has a story to share through me….. I am just still trying to find out what, when , and how I am to share it. Reading other blogs like yours has help me so much. Thanks for alway sharing.
I just clicked over here again today, and seeing this post title this time made me think of
“I sing because I’m happy…
I sing because I’m free…
His eye is on the sparrow…”
{love that song!}
“..So I know He watches me!”
~ sophomore year gospel choir – that’s where I learned that song the first time!
God writes letters to me via me — how can you know how I feel? Comrade writer-souls, I suppose.
I’m so glad I found your blog!
So glad you found it too!
I write because…sometimes it’s the only real conversation I’ll have had all day.
You know, those days when the Hubby is gone from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. working like a mad man, coming home just in time to eat and then fall into bed completely exhausted.
The days your Mom is so busy taking care of your elderly grandparents that she doesn’t have a minute to breathe for herself, let alone engage in conversation.
The days your close friends are busy with their own lives.
The days your toddler is teething.
I find myself writing on those days. Sometimes in a blog, sometimes in a journal, often in the form of prayer, and I’ll admit it, sometimes to the air in front of my face.
That’s a powerful picture of a life preserver, LeAnna. It gave me goosebumps.
I write because…words don’t judge me or misunderstand me.
I write because…sometimes, in the midst of hell or happiness, there is nothing like someone reading your heart and saying “I know exactly what you mean”.
do you have a button i can put on my blog? i would love to direct everyone i can to your wonder writings…
This: “It feels like God writes letters to me via me.”
Oh, Word-Sister — yes!
I’ll keep writing words until I am rejoined to the Word because this is the way I meet the Spirit of God, and this is the way I untangle all the knotted lines of my life and the days shape themselves into letters and He shows me the meaning… and this is really why:
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/02/do-not-let-anything-keep-you.html
Thank you, Lisa-Jo, for asking me to pause… and really think why.
His Beauty and my awe drives me to it…
I am so glad you write…
All’s grace,
Ann
ooooh – “I write because the words want out.” – i love that.
i write because it sometimes feels as though my story isn’t real until it is told.
i write because it helps me process what i don’t even realize i’m feeling.
i write because it’s often all i have to give.
Yes, why is it that putting words to things – naming them as Kimberly above says – somehow roots the event? I feel that way too. Whether writing it or speaking it out loud – I need to retell it to feel it.
Thank you for this prompt! Definitely gave me something to mull over and get a “first draft” out there as to some of the reasons I write