Lovers of the Hand Written Word Unite!
I’m thrilled to call myself a professional writer. I am also thrilled to be finally earning my keep by the written word. For years when I worked another ‘day job’ in order to pay the bills my heart was not really in it. I yearned for a way to make my living through expressing myself and sharing my writing with the world.
My first step was this blog–actually an earlier version of this blog that I started in the fall of 1998, which was before the term ‘blog’ had even come into existence. That blog became a fabulous creative outlet for me and it allowed me to create a bit of a community with other writers and my visitors.
Now that writing for clients is my livelihood, I don’t want to lose that love and passion for it. I still keep a hand written journal, and I keep this blog to write about my take on the world, share my insights and musings and sound off when I need to. But sometimes I notice that when I write a lot on this blog or on Facebook and Twitter, it steals some of the passion from my personal journal practice.
I was listening to on of my favorite podcasts, Tranquility du Jour, and the hostess, Kimberly Wilson was discussing this phenomenon with her guest, Samara O’Shea, who is also a writer. Ms. O’Shea has written books about journaling and letter writing–two of my great loves. Listening to this episode was a gentle reminder that the hand written word should never get lost in the shuffle of iPhones, Twitter and Facebook. We should remember to take some time for quiet solitude where we can ‘unplug’ and write longhand in a journal and enjoy life as it is in each moment.
I love social media because I believe that it fulfills the promise of the Internet’s potential to bring people together, but I also closely guard my journal writing time, and taking the time to hand write letters to the people that I love.
So, don’t let email and Facebook messages take the place of writing letters and keeping a journal. Writing letters is a wonderful way to keep in touch with those you love in a very personal, intimate way. Keeping a journal is a way to keep in touch with yourself as you are right in this moment. I have 2 boxes of journals that I have kept since I was 14 years old. Every now and then I enjoy cracking one open and stepping into the life I was leading when I wrote that entry.
Life is short, but your life is precious and worth recording. Take a moment and write it down.
It’s funny. I was in a school/craft supply last week and saw penmanship books on the shelf. I wonder if the lack of writing among young people, is because they didn’t get enough penmanship, beyond printing, to make writing easier. They tend to marvel at my script, as they find printing slow.
I didn’t keep a journal for years as my mother didn’t believe in privacy for children, and often rifled through my things. But I have many artist sketch books containing my thoughts and drawings; it’s a great mind cleanser.
Many blessings to you for attaining a living at something you love. It’s one of our purposes on earth.