Writing
- Beautiful people don't communicate with written word. They communicate with another language. They stare. They play games. They turn each other on with pheromones and slobber. They break up their friendships by giving each other the cold shoulder. But.. words? Too much trouble.
Jon Davis
When I was younger, I was an inveterate letter-writer. I'd write reams and reams and be frustrated when people didn't write back, or took ages to write back.At one point, I had about 30 pen-friends! It wasn't as much as it sounds, though, because they all took two or three months to send me replies. Usually what would happen was I'd send a second letter after a period of silence, and then they'd feel guilty and write back immediately!
I've come to realise that not everybody can, or loves to write. I know people for whom writing is the embodiment of their worst nightmares. They'll do anything to escape putting pen to paper.
Writing essays were always a breeze for me. You know how our teachers would tell us to take the first ten minutes to plan our essays and sketch a brief outline? Well, I never did. I'd just sit down there, start writing, and not stop till I'd finished. The words would 'flow' naturally. Some friends would be tearing their hair out, trying to figure out how to express their thoughts in words, how to get across the things they wanted to say. I never had a problem with those things.
I love the written word, and I think that's just the way God made me. I can't remember a time when I was not writing. I've said before that I even write letters to God; it started as a way to help God seem more real to me, rather than a nebulous invisible guy "somewhere out there". It made Him seem like a very present friend, a close friend to whom I could pour out my innermost thoughts.
A reader who stopped by my blog recently said that I'd talk my husband's ears off. The thing is, I'm never this talkative in "real life". Firstly, I don't really have many people to tell stuff to. Secondly, when I'm with people, they always seem to have lots to talk about, so I'm in the habit of just listening. I don't want to speak if I get the feeling that my listener is more interested in telling me his/her own experiences instead of listening to what I have to say!
So writing is my outlet and you happen to be my captive audience. With writing, the reader has to listen. And I am more comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings through the written word. I express myself better. (Although that's debatable!)
Just recently, I mused to Janelle that when I'm married, I might still have to write love letters to my husband when I want to communicate with him at an intimate level; it just is easier for me to write things out. Sounds weird, I know...