Let's write

There are so many things I could write about writing!

When we forget something we are encouraged to write it down – that thing becomes somehow immortal when it’s written down.

When people undertake therapy, they are being advised to write down in a diary how they feel before pursuing an impulsive action. When they want to lose weight, they are being advised to keep a food diary. When I wanted to become more productive and to feel at ease with how I spend my time, I started to keep a time log. From this point of view, writing helps one to track things down and measure progress.

…and these are just a few of my observations on the power of writing.

Writing is such a wonderful therapy in itself, as it helps one to reorganise one’s thoughts and reconnect with the inner self. It helps one to detach from a situation, to meditate, to reflect over past actions without being bound by emotions. For me, writing is very liberating, as once I pen any negative thoughts, my mind adopts a neutral attitude towards them.

Writing is a low-stress, high-rewards hobby as at the end of the writing journey, you get the chance to see the finished product of your thoughts in the from of your your diary entry, your article, your blog post or your book.

Writing seeds thoughts into our brains, it channels them into our neural pathways and therefore it helps to achieve focus. I think there is some kind of link between the brain and the act of writing down our thoughts. That is why whenever I need to learn something, I feverishly note down everything I want to remember, because I feel that if I write things down, they will be ingrained into my mind.

Also, I feel that writing down the things your mind craves to materialise (such as big plans for the future) is a great compromise between not yet achieving what your mind is craving to achieve, but taking steps towards it. It’s a great way to calm your impulses when they are craving for thing(s) to materialise. In particular, I enjoy making future plans that I write on paper (i.e. how I will spend my evenings after work, my weekends). This not only cures the excitement I have to be able to experience them, but it somehow helps me to feel that I’ve already started to experience them.

I always feel the impulse to write – it’s my main form of creation, of self-expression. Starting this blog has brought me so much purpose and joy, as it has given me the platform to express myself and my ideas. However, I have always treated each article like a masterpiece which made me feel humble before even starting it, for fear I might not be able to do it justice and complete it to the greatness of my ideas. I find that writing can be quite challenging as there are so many nuances, ways in which you can say something.

Writing relaxes and energises the mind at the same time and conduces it to a state of spiritual well being. When I set myself down to write, I feel peaceful, ready to gather all my thoughts and happy at the thought of what I will create. Slipping into “the zone” – that place where you become a passive conduit to a story – exercises your brain in weird, pleasant ways and just makes life a little bit more enchanted (extract from No Plot? No Problem). However, I also feel fearful that I might not be able to capture all my thoughts or embellish them with the appropriate words, but I know that I shouldn’t just strive for quality to the detriment of quantity, as, in a strange way, writing for quality brings about writing for quantity. That is because we are able to write well when we write quickly and intensely.

That is why I always feel a sense of regret when I set my heart on writing an article that I never actually get to write. And just like Murakami, I’m trying to remember this feeling of regret, because it’s what will inspire me to pull out the journal each day and make time to write in it.

In order to induce myself in the mood of writing every day, I create an inviting writing atmosphere – with scented candles, aroma diffusers and soothing background music. Speaking of the latter, I found that writing and piano music are perfect companions. Piano music creates the soothing rhythm for the act of mental stimulation and invites the mind to engage, thus sustaining the creative flow. 

Even if we are not all born writers, writing is a craft that we can learn to master, if we keep doing it. When we write, we create. And so, writing makes true artists out of even the most untalented ones of us, with seemingly no other obviously talents. Everyone’s mind craves to express itself, to write and create a personal world or philosophy out of one’s inner thoughts.

So, I advise you to carry a notebook with you wherever you go. In this way, you can jot down any thoughts that come to your mind. You never know when these thoughts are going to materialise. The inspiration to write can come from all aspects of life.