What a great way to put much of how I feel about writing, words to go forward.
See, writing to me is about taking the time to think about an idea or experience in an intentional way.
It’s – in some ways – an act of exploring and finding out what you think about something.
And then being able to leave that idea at peace, at least for a time.
For example, I found myself years ago struggling with people flippantly blaming high gasoline prices on “greed.”
I knew the notion was misplaced, ignorant, and factually wrong.
But it was not until I read about it and worked through it behind the keyboard that I was able to let the idea alone.
(I cringe at my writing voice back then for some reason though.)
Writing about Saudi was cathartic too, if you want to know the truth.
Try it.
Go put 500 words to a significant idea or experience that you can’t shake.
If you are a writer, it helps.
The privilege of direct experience had led me away from literary and academic work, yet now I felt that to understand my own direct experiences, I would have to translate them back into language. Hemingway described his process in similar terms: acquiring rich experiences, then retreating to cogitate and write about them. I needed words to go forward.
-Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air (Amazon)