This is why I encourage every writer (and every thinker, and every person, for that matter) to keep a journal, and to write in it regularly. Even if you only begin by writing about "what you did" each day, your pen will often pull you beyond these familiar borders. As you express things on paper, this articulation of thoughts will broaden your perspective and increase your capacity for growth and change.
This is also why a blog is a useful tool. But not a blog where you just churn out thoughtless content; a blog where you genuinely aim to produce thoughts that help people. You may not be successful at first. And (trust me) you may never be as successful in this area as you want. But the more you blog - with an aim toward truly helping others with your thoughts - the more complete your thoughts will become.
Finally, this is where it is useful to have one or two close, trusted Writer Friends with whom you can share thoughts. As Mickey Diamond and I have corresponded over the years, I have found that I frequently give shape to thoughts (in my all-too-infrequent emails to him) that have, to that point, been drifting formless through my mind. And as I have begun corresponding with Paul Joseph - in a different form of writer-to-writer relationship than the one I share with Mickey - I have further found myself stumbling upon great "realizations" and "revelations"...through my own words.
As a writer, as a thinker, and even as a person, your thoughts are among your most valuable assets.
Begin to give shape to your thoughts, and watch your world expand.
Learn how you can litter
to help out with 'The Great Lenore'...
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I just started following Paul Joseph myself. I agree our words help us explore the places we go inside our minds, our hearts. Those things are the equivalent of what comes out in the stories we write. We're there between the tapestry of words.
ReplyDeleteIf I post about something difficult or troublesome, by the end of the piece I've either resolved what I began with or I leave something to think about - explore.
These words of yours ring true in so many ways. For it was writing which showed me a way to deal with my deafness. I saw myself as I truly am between each struggle for the right word to voice what I felt. In the end I discovered a way to keep who I had been intact and bond with who I was to become.
If nothing else people who read me learn a very real truth about how I cope with the silence. I've found it somehow broadens others understanding. And why is it, you seem to eke out these long comments from me? (Hugs)Indigo
Very true. I often find that my thoughts become clearest when I'm formulating a blog post.
ReplyDeleteIndigo - I imagine that this is especially true for you, as articulating your thoughts on paper (or on computer) gives them a certain concrete quality that - as you have said before - gives you a voice.
ReplyDeleteScooter - It's amazing how much you begin to learn...through your own words on blog posts!
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