SOME people think I’m a "writer," saying I’m validated as one being a “published” writer and all. I admit I love the flattery, but I cringe at the thought.
For me, “writers” are those in the league of novelists, published authors of books and publications you can find out there, in bookstores and in libraries, available for public consumption.
I still catch myself in awe whenever people (even strangers) come up to me and tell me they read my articles in this column.
But, really, are we not all writers? We all have our life stories – blank pages we write on every day, filled with events and everyday happenings that we just simply forget at day-end unless it’s something momentous – in a good or bad way. I think in that respect we differ in the way we "write."
Some of us think so hard and play many scenarios in our minds before we get to write them out: I’ll call them overthinkers. They play out a number of scenes in their heads before settling for one they think would pan out just right in their life stories. Beware if you’re an overthinker, you might be missing out on a lot of serendipitous surprises that tends to make life somewhat sweeter.
Then there are those who just immediately write anything and everything at the spur of the moment – no prolonged thinking, no complex brain processing – they are the gamers, scrawling through the game of life, not really giving it much thought, thinking they could erase mistakes anyway.
Of course between extremes there is the temperate: to be able to distinguish between having to think hard, or just going with the flow; to carefully plan what to “write” when it comes to essential things in life, but just be spontaneous when the matter on hand is seemingly not that crucial. I guess that is the ideal type.
I love writing, but I don’t deem myself a “writer” in the technical sense of the word. I find in it a very effective de-stressing tool to get me through a week’s worth of strain. It was through writing that I was able to cope – to some degree – with the loss of loved-ones. It is through writing that I am able to share (or purge, more aptly) these thoughts in my oftentimes crowded mind.
In ending this chat I want to share this quote from Terri Main: “You are a writer. The "normal" ship has sailed without you long ago.”
As millenials put it, ‘nuff said.
(serendipity.couch@gmail.com)