Why I Write

‎"Write with your eyes like painters, your ears like musicians, your feet like dancers. You are the truthsayer with quill and torch. Write with your tongues of fire. Don’t let the pen banish you from yourself. Don’t let the ink coagulate in your pens. Don’t let the censor snuff out the spark, or their gags muffle your voice. Put your shit on the paper.” - Gloria Anzaldúa

 

I ran across this quote awhile ago, thought it was neat, so I saved it. Some days this is the writer I want to be, some days it isn't. But, this is the writer-hero that I like to feel is there somewhere. Even on the days when I stare blankly at the screen, wondering What To Write, I like to feel like the hero's in there, cheering me on. 

Sure, I just write a knitting blog ... and knitting ain't rocket science. Still, it's writing, it's steady, day after day writing (Wellllll Wordless Wednesdays is a bit of a gaff, I should really write something from now on, we'll see) and I can pat myself on the back for not having missed a day. Who knows where it will end? My first real job after the stroke? When I start having manuscripts accepted, if I write any? Heck, when I start writing for publication? I don't know. I'm going to keep on writing, in any case, even if nobody reads it (and I know some of you do, thank you!). It's just nice to know I have a knitting hero inside me when I need it.

Gloria Anzaldúa was an inspirational womn, a little bit wacky, and deeply spiritual. Here is one more quote from her, which sums up why I write, since my stroke:

"Why am I compelled to write?... Because the world I create in the writing compensates for what the real world does not give me. By writing I put order in the world, give it a handle so I can grasp it. I write because life does not appease my appetites and anger... To become more intimate with myself and you. To discover myself, to preserve myself, to make myself, to achieve self-autonomy. To dispell the myths that I am a mad prophet or a poor suffering soul. To convince myself that I am worthy and that what I have to say is not a pile of shit... Finally I write because I'm scared of writing, but I'm more scared of not writing.” 

 

Comments

[Brandi]

I think we all have abit of that writing hero in us.

[Judy]

Beth, thanks for this post. I bet there are days many bloggers write for these reasons, and more.