Hello, nice people!
Lately I started thinking about what writing really is… This is because I noticed some interesting phenomenon in my body during and after I write an article.
Let’s start with the beginning… what is writing?
According to the EnglishCLUB:
“Writing” is the process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet, punctuation and spaces) to communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable form.
So, writing is a form of communication, right? I say something to you and you understand what I’m trying to say. And for us, bloggers, it is actually more important than it is to other people. Because we find some form of emotional impact in this.
What does this mean?
It means we somehow found the Holy Grail. Why? Because we found a way to express our feelings. Just like painters paint. In my opinion, writing is a form of expressing our feelings.
Do you know that for some people it is almost impossible to express any feelings because their upbringing thought them it is better to repress feelings? And where do you think this leads to?
Honestly, I think writing is a necessity. Because we all have thousands of thoughts and some of them bugs us so much we barely function throughout the day. And it is really helpful to take them out of our head, put them in a somehow logical form and then view them from a third-party perspective. It’s the only way to not taking it personally.
We are actually blessed, as bloggers. We can take out our thoughts and view them externally. Something most people can’t. They have confusing thoughts bouncing around their heads all day long.
Actually, this is why social media and YouTube work so well. People get distracted from their own thoughts and ideas all day long (this is actually what one of my ex-es used to do all day long just to run away from his thoughts).
Maybe for us writing is a hobby. But the impact is having is so much more important than a hobby. Our mental sanity might depend of it.
What do you think?
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Short Wisdom 
For me it‘s a necessity 😄
Necessary for me to write, too! I loved your blog and relate so much to it, it’s definitely cathartic to be able to write about what we think/experience and share it with others as bloggers.
I agree! I need to blog more and journal more period!
For me it’s a necessity. It allows me to express what I’m feeling. I started journaling 3 years ago and it has helped me to not stay only in my head.
I agree totally. If I write my thought down, it allows me to look into other thoughts and bring them to the front of my mind. Once I get the next thought written, another is allowed to come forward. And on and on it goes.
Thank you. A very thought provoking article. I thought I wouldn’t keep this to myself though, so here I am writing.
Something I’ve thought about before, about writing, is that it may be a form of secondary, or even tertiary re processing of our thoughts and feelings, which helps us realise those thoughts and feelings.
We feel. We have language within us to put those feelings into words. Those words can remain within us if we wish. Personally I have so many feelings and thoughts, and due to the way my brain is, whether that be by nature, or as a result of developmental factors, I often find it stressful to contain my feelings and thoughts. It’s like they absolutely must break free of me. If they don’t get out of me, then I may become overwhelmed with all this thoughts about my feelings. I may find it difficult to keep them all together, they may start a riot inside of me, because, they are unheard. I a feel unheard. This then causes more feelings, and more thoughts. It’s kind of contagious within me.
I could speak the words I have, and that has a lot of value, even if I’m talking to myself, it can help, but it’s still not enough really.
So I just write. I write to set my thoughts and feelings free. To set myself free.
Liberation.
It goes further than that though. I’ve processed the thoughts and feelings within me, often many times. Then I re process them by writing them down. Once written down, and ideally on something tangible or at least, that feels permanent, I make a connection with reality that I didn’t previously have. My thoughts and feelings are no longer just inside of me, they have escaped, into the real world!
Going further still, while I’m writing, I am reading the words I write, or may I read them again afterwards. So I’ve put my thoughts and feelings into the world, but then I have brought them back into me again. They now exist both in the real world, the external, and within me. Reality and myself, become one.
As a result, I can actually feel like I exist more, that I am in some way, more real. This is particularly useful when you have existential issues like I do.
There is one more way to make this even more real though.
When I read my words back, I can read them out loud. I not only use my eyes and my thinking to read the words, but I can use my voice and then another sense, my ears, to hear my voice saying my words.
The more I do this, perhaps the better the connection between within and without, internal and external, inside and outside, my existence and reality, there may be.
Well put.
So very well stated. This is me. This is how expressing clears it the cobwebs
Said I was a blogger to a person I know. For some reason they equated this word to Internet trolls. How strange. So around my neck of the woods I say I post things. All my fellow bloggers are such great people I really hope that it is only in my part of the world that the term has such a bad rep.
Elena, in your closing lines, you reference a reason I write – for my sanity. In a world where the truth is not always a key part of the message, I find it necessary to strive for truth telling. Stephen Colbert termed the word “truthiness” about fifteen years ago, and while he was accurate that the truth matters less, it is sad that it does. Politicians owe us the truth. Our problems are hard enough to solve with facts and truth, but nigh impossible when those important tools are not used. We need to hold people to account when they lie to us.
Keith
I agree. It reminds me of something Salvor Hardin said: “Nothing has to be true, but everything has to sound true.”
Absolute necessity. The words need to be birthed into the larger world.
adore the post!
release
talent is there
so if you care to read
heed
and if it helps too
cool beanz
💜 Yes
…💛💚💙…
Yes, writing is one form of communication. Some people use other forms…photography, fabric arts…it is anything that you can give focused attention on and put your thoughts and feelings into. Communication is far more wide than most people think or even definitions can say. Even people who are unable to talk can find ways to communicate. When you find your method or methods of communication that work for you, then you have found an important tool! Glad you find one that works well for you!
Writing is a necessity for me! I have to clear my head and express what’s going on around me. Feels good on my soul.
Absolutely a necessity! I never knew how freeing it would be until I started writing and blogging. I was an artist first before I dared write down my thoughts, but I wouldn’t go back to how I was living before, because I discovered how much my mental health benefits from writing!
Good afternoon and congratulations for this great article. Yes, we bloggers can extract all what is torturing us inside and expose it to the redeeming light of our readers. In fact, I have so many demons of all origins, shapes and sizes inside me that the only two moments when they cannot harass me is either when I am in Deep REM Sleep or writing at my desk.
BRAVO!!! We will start following you. If you agree with my latest article, please put a commentary. Do not worry. I do not bite (at least not yet ) Un baccione. Arrivederci.
I read this before reading this! 😁 You are an Amazing Human. Intelligent as we all are of course. So true what you wrote. I always encourage my children to write. Keep Shining 😍💫
Here I thought it was, “…sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.”
I knew at a young age that I’d want to be a writer. The long and windy road I had to take to get to a certain status was certainly worth it. Although I wonder when does it become more than a hobby? Some can turn their gift to become a novelist, which is a higher form of writing because of all the nuances involved in planning character development arcs and plotting (imo). I’m presently working with an editor so I can get back to short story writing too! Can’t wait for that anthology to be published!
Beautiful way of looking at writing there. The process of extracting thoughts itself is so worth the effort.
It’s a necessity for me to write too. I am a bit compulsive about it. I can’t seem to function if I can’t express myself from time to time. Thanks for sharing!
Writing is a hobby for me – the Aldo Leopold kind where “every hobbyist is inherently a radical, and their tribe is inherently a minority.” (from A Sand County Almanac)
Reblogged this on My Syfy wonders and commented:
I do agree, especially as someone who viewed writing sometimes as a “creative escape” from the real world. Sometimes, you feel like there’s no one to listen to you or understand you. Writing allows your mind to be free, just write and re-read your “thoughts” to feel that solace or companionship. Writing does keep our mental sanity.
Writing is totally neccessary for me, it allows my thoughts which are often mercurial, brilliant yet too fleeting to quite remember it in full. It can also be amazing to read through paper book after paper book and see signs of how you are who you are today. Especially for me as a writer of factual information, scientific but especially rhyme and poetic stuff – that’s where themes arise over time hidden in clever ditties scribbled along a line. It may not mean much as I do it, but 3 years later I find things and its almost like “past me” wrote this for “present me” coz it perfectly aligns with my life and helps in some way. I believe writing and self journaling are windows into our subconscious and right hemisphere and the act of writing is multilayered for sure. What you write today may well be subconsciously what you need to hear back in a years time. I have wrote for close on half my life, and im 32 now so I have tons of paper pads packed with all sorts of symbolic signs that I can decipher if I am so inclined. I highly reccomend keeping a dream journal also, its an amazing tool for picking up on repetitive messages subconsciously sent in a dream over time that without writing it down, you would forget and not be able to connect the dots. Great post, im gonna have to hit the follow button! Happy writing!
Writing is not necessarily a means of communication. Someone can write something just for themselves, as a way to express something they want, to keep coming back to it, or anything else.
Publishing, on the other hand, is indeed a means of communication.
Somehow, these two have been confused over the last years, and a lot of writing is being published without the person writing it even know why they do it sometimes. And to me, an author’s intention about publishing is always necessary and important.
Why do I choose to publish this comment instead of simply thinking it for myself? For two main reasons, I think: i) so that others can reflect to that in case there is some value in it, and ii) to see what others might think of it; that is, if they agree or not.
Well said. It’s like taking out of splinter and examining it.
I have always had a drive to articulate what I’m feeling or thinking. Writing was a natural progression. And it is often cathartic, helps me process. Thanks 🙂
I haven’t written much lately, because I am worried.
Worry does not write easily.
Writing is indeed a form of expressing the inner workings. The clarity it offers paves the way to new solutions in place of the web of thoughts that seem to lead nowhere.
I write to encourage others to go beyond conditioning, blind acceptances, and stagnation. 😉
More than a necessity – an imperative! 🙂
Definitely a necessity!
It used to be a necessity, especially writing for content mills. Then it transitioned into a hobby, willing to rewrite anything for free. Now, I think it is a subtle curse with a twinge of diluted happiness. Eventually, it’ll go back to normal, or get better.
Very neccesity for me too! I love writing. It helps me think outside the box!
I believe. Some people must write and I believe. Everyone had a story to be told. I need to write and read. Keeps my sanity.
True. It’s also a way to clarify to yourself what you really think about a topic. It’s a form of research and our understanding often unfold as we write…
I express myself better through writing so it is a necessity for me.
This understanding of writing aligns with my own experience, as well. I am very transparent on my blog about my mental health, my art, and what it all means to me. I am more open there than I am in real life. It has been cathartic, and an important step in helping me to get better.
For me, it started off as a necessity and to keep me sane, but that used to be in my journal. Now, on this platform, I get to express my feelings, share with us with the aim to heal others through my journey called Life!
It depends.
If you write to merely expel thoughts then your journey with that thought is not complete.
If, on the other hand, you write to clarify and resolve your thinking then this will benefit both yourself and others.
It’s the contrast between saying “I have a problem” and “I had a problem and now I have a solution”.
That said, if you use blogging as a means of asking for support, help and advice from fellow bloggers, then sharing problems could be beneficial for all.
Kindness – Robert.