The joy of writing

There's something exhilarating about putting one's thoughts on paper. Expressing oneself clearly is one of life's most important and valuable skills. It can't be overemphasized. I got to thinking more about writing when Barb asked me to look at her most recent blog, which you can find at http://expressions-thebeautyinlife.blogspot.com/2012/01/christmases-past.html. Barb wrote about her sadness on Christmas Day and not being able to spend the holiday with her family now that we're in Tennessee. She wrote about some of her favorite Christmas memories. It was sad and sweet to read because I hadn't realized just how much being away from home bothered Barb. And it was a part of her I hadn't seen before. But part of her childhood opened up to me in her writing. I wrote to her in response, "I hope that writing about it helps you. Writing gives me such a powerful form of expression and catharsis and I guess that's why I like it so much."
Granted, I am not and never will be a public speaker. Everyone who knows me knows I do not like the limelight and I don't like to speak publicly. My teachers' most common remark to my parents over the years was that "David doesn't speak often in class, but when he does, he has something of value to say."
It's safe to say I hate public speaking but I love writing. It is timeless and lasts forever. It's putting one's emotions down on paper. It's expression, prose, opinion, healing and communication all rolled into one. It's a prescription for relief without taking a pill. I've often said that the most valuable course I took in school was typing. Even more so now that my hands hurt from arthritis. But I remember well Mr. Bjerke's sophomore typing class. There were rows and rows of clunky old manual Royal typewriters with sets of green keys. We shuddered when we saw that there were no letters on the keys. We were expected to know them by heart! And as we progressed through the lessons Mr. Bjerke would "time" us, walking down the aisle with a stopwatch in hand as we tried typing as fast as we could with as few errors as possible. "Typos" were subtracted from the total word count and a "typing speed" was determined. But then we graduated to IBM Selectric typewriters, and that was awesome! Then along came the computer and "typing" became "keyboarding." And crumpled-up paper tossed at a garbage can became a thing of the past. And "spell check" and "grammar check" became buzz words.
But in the end it still comes down to putting your thoughts on paper. And that's the process that I love. This is my 26th blog post since I began this process last March. It hasn't been very regular, but when the urge to write hits me I usually give in and let it flow. Noted American author and journalist Ernest Hemingway once said, “In order to write about life first you must live it.” And that's the best part -- writing about life.
Hemingway also said, "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
And so it is.
We bleed emotions, thoughts, concerns, opinions. We "get it off our chests."
And after you've written all that, don't you feel better?