To Whom Do We Write?

One of the less obvious joys of writing is much the same as that of reading; we do it when we can, and it is not essential. It is usually not really work, a chore or a business. It is not as important as having a good diet or sufficient exercise. It is a discretionary creative pursuit that provides enrichment. When I make the time to write, it gives me the suggestion that I have created time to make something that may or may not be useful in the future. I find writing to be nourishing, pleasurable, and educational, but it also subconsciously reminds me that I have discretionary time and energy.

Many of the finer things in life and culture have a similar purpose. One purpose of fine dinning, tables settings and manners, is apparently rooted in nobilities desire to express that there was an abundance of food and the security to eat peacefully and slowly. A purpose of manicured gardens and lawns is to express wealth by possessing and unnecessarily grooming land. Writing can be similar. It is an aspect of abundance to craft words to the best of our ability and take the time to make something for future benefit.

My writing has also had the intention of helping me teach and further my career. I have always had other things that I perhaps should do instead of write, but I have written as an investment. I have frequently had to push aside other projects or activities to write instead. Even with this feeling, writing has nourished me and helped me feel beyond the fray of my more obligatory tasks. It has helped me commit to having a bigger mission by investing in creating something without an immediate reward, or perhaps without any reward at all.

Writing can be immediate and necessary like writing an email or a memo, but even that can be done with care, grammar and punctuation. Caring about our words and investing in them beyond what is necessary helps to elevate our experience and gives us a deeper and more abundant feeling. When we write our best, we feel the care we have for the reader, and that elevates our sense of purpose.

Poetry can be a selfish creative outlet but also the supreme expression of a gift. When I have dropped what I am doing and allowed loving feelings to be shaped and documented as a love poem, I feel my love and my caring desire for my lover to know their value to me. As I express this gift I feel my abundance and am nourished by it.

These are just a few ideas and feelings I was having today that made me come to the keyboard instead of cleaning my house.