Me on Writing

Me on Writing: I write my way in… and I write my way out, gallivanting all about with pedantic prose. Or at least that's what I would like you and everyone to think. The undercurrent of truth starts with me being saddled with a condition that's not all that uncommon these days. But back when I was in my most informative years, my learning disability was simply diagnosed as "this poor child is dumb." At the time, not too many people were kind enough to use the phrase, "the child has an addled brain." Which I probably would not have understood what that meant, but so be it.

What was this mysterious condition that plagued me as a boy? Well, now there is a clinical word to describe it. The popular term today is dyslexia. At the time, no one really understood learning disabilities. This dyslexia stuff seriously impacted my ability to spell. Which, of course, made writing a real challenge. My thoughts and ideas were good, but with poor spelling and bouts of confusion, no one could accept there was anything worthwhile coming out of this constantly perceived dumb kid.

Fast-forward a few bunches of years, I still can't spell very well, but technology came to the rescue. Is the stigma of not being very smart still reside in me? Sometimes. But ultimately I fervently believed that it made me become more clever in the way I shared my thoughts and ideas. I'm a good talker. But if someone asks me to write my thoughts on a whiteboard in front of a group of people, I would emotionally cave. And yes, it has happened to me on more than one occasion in business meetings.

I could write. The thought occurred to me, not the usual business kind of writing that I've had to do all along. But the kind of writing where I could express my feelings, thoughts, and ideas and maybe give some benefit to others. I started out just writing short stories. Many of which appeared with my art on my artist blog. It was a wonderful way to teach myself to write better and to let my imagination run wild. It worked. It was fun, and it was cool!

Now, me on writing? Well, it gets down to this. It can give you the grandest sense of freedom. You can build powerful sentences. You can explore vocabulary that is virtually never-ending. And perhaps the greatest reward of all, it's a pure form of creativity that practically requires no tools. Thoughts are conveyed through symbols, letters, and punctuation. Many people say that writing is hard work, but I disagree. Writing is one of the few ways you can truly express joy to yourself and to others. You can even wrap up the drama in your life with as many words as you would like. You can experience total freedom. You can go anywhere on earth or anywhere in the universe. By yourself or with the characters you create. Wherever you want to let your imagination take you in written words.

Writing is addictive; you'll soon develop a psychological need to express yourself in the format of the written word. Next to thinking internally, it's the purest form of becoming self-aware. Words can elevate, and words can hurt when spoken, but so much more can be conveyed when written down. Freestyle writing can improve your health, your attitude, and ultimately your inner peace and happiness.

"I write to feal me." Rod Jones Artist-writer