I’ve started a writing challenge this month. On 750words.com.
Every day in September I committed to write 750 words. Every single day.
At first, I thought that’s not too bad. My blogs are about that length, 750 words. And then I realised my blogs don’t get written in one day! I usually come up with a theme, I start writing, I ponder, I leave it for a day or two, I come back to it. I never finish an article on the same day, not even the same week most of the time. I like to ponder, get perspective and then come back to it.
That’s my writing style.
So, this, 750 words every day for a month, should be fun. But of course, this doesn’t have to be “content”. Nobody but me will read it, and whilst I can be my own worst critic, I can also let it be as it is. Not perfect, not even good, just random writing. And that’s what I am going to do this month, just random write and enjoy it.
And if you’re like me and like stationery (yes, that’s a thing) there’s nothing more satisfying than opening a blank page in a beautiful notebook and starting to write. With a beautiful pen, of course.
But it got me thinking, and I believe that writing has a lot of power.
Writing has been around for thousands of years. Without writing – whatever form of writing there was – we would not know history and science, we would not know literature and poetry, and to bring it back to 21st century, we would not be able to communicate, trade, live.
It has shaped and still does the course of human history.
But I am also talking about a more subtle power. One for our heart and our soul. For our wellbeing.
When you put your thoughts, your ideas, your dreams on paper they hold power. It’s like a little commitment to yourself, to your ideas, to your dreams.
Writing is vastly different from simply thinking. Thoughts come and go. They can appear, disappear, return, and sometimes retreat again before we’ve even had time to understand them.
But if you write it down, it can’t retreat. It’s there as a little reminder or a little encouragement or even a little companion.
Think of a diary – definitely a companion.
Think of journaling – definitely a balm for the heart and soul.
Think of a letter – a caring thought from or for someone else.
Writing makes you the author. It makes you the decision maker. You decide what comes next.
And that’s powerful.
And when we write we have to slow down. Probably why I love it so much!
Initially you might think you’re just recording events or venting your frustrations. That’s writing too. But if you stick with it, you notice something wonderful happening – you begin to see how the words flow, how there’s a pattern forming, how there’s a story shaping.
And every blank page is a world waiting for your words. When you hold the pen, you hold the power to shape that story. But perhaps the most profound gift of writing isn’t just the ability to create a story – it’s the permission to change it. Because when the story goes a way you didn’t plan, you have the power to turn the page. You can cross out old paths, you can re-write the ending, you begin again. Every stroke of the pen is a chance to change direction. You can draft a new tomorrow.
And that teaches us that we are never stuck. That we can always start again.
And that’s powerful.
I know writing has changed – we type now (I am doing it right now!) in an electronic document these days. But it’s still writing. In the digital era. It’s still our thoughts, ideas, dreams put on (electronic) paper. It’s still writing for our future generations to discover and decipher. On the cloud rather than in caves, but it’s still writing.
I hope it never goes away.
I really hope writing stays in our human history forever.
I, for one, hope to never stop writing. As I truly believe it’s good for the heart and soul.