To Write or Not To Write

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written, and as much as the past few weeks really have been busy, my lack of inspiration is also to blame. I do have a few photos I could post, and I will put them up soon, but this blog was initially started as a writing blog. I really enjoy putting up my photos and I’ve discovered a new love for photography with my blog, but sometimes that makes me lazier about writing. I don’t want to get lazy about writing, and with all my current free time I have no excuse to be lazy or procrastinate. I love to write and I have always loved writing, for as long as I can remember.

The first personal writing I ever did started in elementary school, when my sister bought me my first diary. I went through many diaries since then, and also many notebooks and journals of all shapes and sizes. Some of those became diaries; many of them became my poetry notebooks. I think I was in middle school when I began writing poetry, although high school was definitely my most productive period. I had a wonderful high school experience, with all the happiness of close friends, flirtations, parties…but I also had my share of teenage angst and unrequited love (until senior year 😉 ). Doesn’t that sound dramatic? Ah, but such is the life of a teenager, and drama sure makes for good poetry. Although, I would have to admit that my poetry didn’t particularly center around darker emotions – I would write about friendship, about love (what little I claimed to know at the time!), about the beauty of nature (that hasn’t changed), and of course the occasional ‘deeper’ emotional poem after a particularly dramatic event. Please note that ‘dramatic event’ is to be taken with a whole box of salt, not just a grain. This is high school I’m talking about, after all.

Well, I clearly went off track there, so let me get back to the point of this post: my love of writing. I had never thought of writing a blog, but when my husband mentioned it last year and I finally wrapped my head around the idea (what a weird expression…), I realized how perfect a next step it would be for me. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do or that I would ‘meet’ such wonderful and encouraging people, but those have been such pleasant and welcome surprises. Blogging has allowed me to explore my writing in a different way, and part of me always wanted to share my writings, but I never knew how. Writing is so much a part of me, and I love the words as much as I love the act of writing. I’m still ‘old-fashioned’ and I write on paper before typing things up. I do that for my personal writing as well as for all my academic work. I love picking up a pen or pencil and watching the words appear on my paper. Writing in pencil is a big favorite of mine – I love the scratching sound of the lead on the paper and I love sharpening the pencil to write with a nice crisp lead. Yes, I am that old-fashioned: I prefer a classic wood pencil to the mechanical ones.

The bottom line is that I always come back to writing, no matter how long of a break it’s been since the last time I wrote. Writing soothes me and puts me in a mood of tranquil serenity. When I haven’t written in a while, I truly miss it.

Here’s hoping that turning 27 will bring lots of inspiration and fulfill this writer’s itch. Looking through my notebook, if the first 10 days are any proof, it’s looking to be a good year.