Why do I write? (Bloganuary #6)

We all write for different reasons but I’d have to say the main reason is to tell a story. Whether it’s our own or one dear to our hearts, we feel our writing will carry that story past ourselves, to others, keeping it alive.

When we write, we pass on what we know, how we live, what we hold near to our hearts. When we write, we leave our voice, our mark, our small thumbprint on the world.

When we write we leave the written word as our legacy for others to gain insight into our worlds or others’ lives. When we write, it’s like a letter waiting to be opened, for just the right person.

I write for others to know me, when I can’t articulate it all in words. I write so others will know the people I have loved, the places I’ve lived, and the worlds inside of my head. In most arenas, I don’t have a platform. I talk and others don’t listen. I’m spoken over or ignored. It used to be something that hurt. Now it just solidifies the fact that writing gives me the platform I would never otherwise have had to share my words with the world.

Advertisement

Stop and take the picture. SOL Tuesday

This is taken from one of my Instagram posts from last week.

It’s that time of year when time seems to float over the mass of my to do lists and messy schedules, over my classroom lessons and my kids extracurricular activities, over weekend plans and planning to check in on friends and family, over all the things that seem to completely leave me floundering and often upset, for no reason other than I’m completely overwhelmed.

The past few weeks have been exhausting so I think I have to remember it’s ok not to complete the lists, to simply breathe and let things go. It’s ok to take a minute when everyone else is screaming for your attention to just be. So stop and take the picture, take it all in, just be.

The hot air balloons that I stopped to marvel at when I should have been doing something else.

What Do You Know? SOL Tuesday

I was listening to a podcast this morning on my way to work as I often do. Emily P. Freeman was giving life advice in the soothing, willowy, calm way only she can. (Check out “The Next Right Thing” on Spotify. I tried to link it but can’t.)

She talked about writers writing about what they know as a daily practice.

So, here I go. Here are some things I currently “know”. (Insert all the air quotes here because, WHAT do I REALLY know?)

I know that teenagers are like roller coaster. Up and down they go, where they stop, nobody knows. Unless you have food. They will stop for food. I know my daughter and son need time to decompress after a long day at school. I know they don’t really need advice but a listening ear.

I know Colorado is hot and dry and I need to wear more sunscreen lest I dry up like an old prune.

I know I am still waiting to take the best yearbook photo ever. I’m 42. Still haven’t.

I know my husband is kind and wants to take care of us even when he is away. I know he loves to cook and I love to eat what he cooks.

I know gas is expensive and I am like an Uber these days. I know I need to streamline our schedules and I’m trying my best.

I know we just went from zero to a thousand miles an hour and we just started school. I know I need to place boundaries around our time because no one is truly happy when we’re exhausted.

I also know that I am truly blessed to have a crazy schedule and healthy kids and a loving husband. I know these chaotic moments and schedules will pass and in a few years, I’ll be calling my kiddos instead of driving them around.

I know we have new neighbors that are kind and good and stop everything when my car battery dies to help out. I know I love our little house we are crammed into. I know I’ll miss it later.

I know these moments are fleeting and fast. I know life is hard and altogether good, if I look for that goodness. I know God has sustained me over the last few years, and He always will, even if His provision looks so different than I ever imagined.

So, what do you know?

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Sojourners…SOL Tuesday

The tension is palpable, anxiety is almost like an electric current. New faces surround me; they are fresh and yet already exhausted. This is just the beginning of the journey.

The beginning of the journey of making another little family that will love us and also rip our hearts in two. The journey of finding out more about ourselves than we will ever be able to teach to others. The journey of learning what is truly important and what can wait for tomorrow, or never.

We smile, we move quickly as we rush to make magic of the piles left over for us to pilfer. Minds racing with information and ideas, some will be made tangible and others we will soon forget.

We rush, we slow down, we learn, we grow, we feel anxious, we feel overwhelmed. We feel love and loved. We feel like we are the luckiest people. We feel like teachers.