As a Journalism major, blogger, and Her Campus writer, I spend a lot of my time writing papers, essays, and articles. A lot of my friends say that they don’t understand how I can enjoy putting words on paper so much.
So, today, I want to write about writing. I want to explain why it is that my dream vacation would be a retreat to an island, writing relentlessly.
To me, writing means asking myself the questions I desperately need to consider. It means searching for a greater meaning to things and people. Sometimes, before I grab my computer, I don’t even notice that there is a specific thing in my life that is worth examining. When I get to my keyboard, it becomes crystal clear that there is something on my mind. Once I get in the mindset of expressing my feelings and opening up, I can understand myself and the world better.
Writing also means expressing my deepest thoughts and sharing my views in a way that is comfortable and reassuring for me. Sometimes I feel awkward speaking in public, my thoughts get all blurry, and I’m confused about what I wanted to say. I end up feeling frustrated because I cannot seem to get my point across. When I’m writing, I have all the time in the world to put my feelings into words, and in a way that others will understand.
I am someone who struggles to focus on one thing at a time — you will always see me multitasking with a coffee in my right hand. Writing is an activity that requires me to really keep my attention on this one sentence that I am working on. It helps me feel grounded in the moment, which is a feeling that I crave to balance with my anxious mind.
Providing relevant and fun content to readers also requires something else beyond honesty and concentration; it requires creativity. The last thing I want is for my readers to fall asleep reading my article and click out of my page. If I want to be able to get to them, I need to find that original way to structure my thoughts and that one striking picture that will go perfectly with the topic I’m focusing on. I spend so much time looking for a synonym for a basic word that will make my article stand out from the crowd of content available online, have an impact on my readers, and make them remember these lines for a long time. I can’t just simply write big chunks of random thoughts and call it a day.
Last but not least, writing allows me to inspire, or even help people. I cannot even explain the surge of joy that I get when I receive a message from a friend, acquaintance or even stranger, telling me that they loved my article and that it changed something for them! I’ve had people coming up to me and tearing up when talking about their favorite part of the article. And that is worth every hour spent at my computer, obsessing over a weird paragraph. It is the best feeling in the world to know that you were able to guide someone and bring happiness into their lives.
Writing has encouraged me to open up and go outside of my comfort zone on a regular basis. And, contrary to popular beliefs, writing does not mean sitting at home and having no contact with people. In fact, it means finding ways to reach out to people and ask ourselves questions about the world we live in. Whether it’s a poem, a blog article, or a long message, get to your keyboards and make the magic happen!
Image Credits: We Heart It
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