I haven’t been writing as much. It feels foreign. There is some sacred art found in simply putting thoughts on paper or digital media. It connects you to those who have come before, both professional and seasonal writers who crave an outlet, a connection to the larger world. Some good, some great, all looking for an impossible way to express an impossible feeling. Much of writing is chasing a ghost. Typically you write (and write) while the majority of it is bathed in frustration – except for that one line, that one sentence that spills out of your soul and into the world at large. That single piece of well crafted honesty is enough to wake you up early the next day to stare at a clean white page – the calm before the storm. The best writers look at writing as a career – whether they make money from writing is irrelevant, the work ethic is the same. Like many things in life, you get better with intentional practice. There is always an excuse to quit or to put it off for something better, but inside, your soul will quake. It shutters as bare skin in the morning cold. Needing release, you write for writing sake. The best writing is never aimed at a certain audience outside the soul of the writer. It is in this raw authenticity that others come, see, and hopefully connect.
And so this is why I write today – to jar lose the blockage in my mind and unleash an insecure prose into the world. Whatever you do, do it well and often. For the God of inspiration moves within the chasm of intention and practice.
Matt simon blog 