Day 30: We All Need to Write

Many people are horrified by the prospect of writing. However, I think it’s important that we all write in some capacity, daily.

In no way am I suggesting that we all need to become full-time writers. The world couldn’t function that way. What I’m advocating for is that everyone write something, anything, every day.

It can be something creative, funny, impassioned, nostalgic…whatever you like.

But when we leave this earth for whatever awaits us after death, the staged pictures and videos of us aren’t going to leave our friends and family with any way to speak with us. And no, I’m no lunatic who thinks that in a Harry Pottersian way we can talk to books and they will talk back, of course not.

But with well-thought-out words, we can comfort our loved ones, and really anyone for that matter, whether we’re still on this astral plane or not. And in this we way can communicate no matter where we are physically or spiritually.

For example, I still randomly come across these old text messages, Facebook posts, tweets, and other written things that my dad had posted before he died. It’s fun to read them and it’s much more of an experience than is looking at old pictures of us (although that can be fun too. I didn’t forget about you, photographer lobby).

Additionally, I’ll occasionally stumble upon old letters or notes from others who have passed, such as those from my grandpa. And him being the incredibly practical person he was, it always amazed me that he had gifted me the following framed pictures with this caption on the back

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On a bigger scale, we can see how much we value writings from people like Marcus Aurelius, the ancient Greek stoic emperor who wrote in his “Meditations” daily. There’s no way that he would have written the things he did so that other people could read them, they were clearly intended for his eyes only. But looking back at these passages, we can see that even the most powerful person in the world at the time sometimes didn’t “have the energy to get out of bed” and had to remind himself frequently of “the beauty in the world” just to keep on living. This shows us how anyone, no matter how important or valuable, can become depressed and has to search for ways to deal with it in order to get through the day.

But it all comes back to writing. If we didn’t have the work of Ann Frank or other key historical figures, would we have the knowledge we have now?

If I didn’t have these aforementioned messages to look back on, I’d probably quickly forget the influence of those who had come before me. For example, I have no idea how my great-great-great granddad viewed the Albanian tax system he had to deal with, but it sure would be fascinating to read about. If only he’d kept a diary…

So, whoever you are, no matter how small you think your role in the world is or your influence on others, know that your writings could one day help someone who is struggling with the same things you are. Or they may lead a future script writer toward a key portion of history for a period piece they’re working on. Or these writings might be immediately consumed in a fire after you go. But either way, you’ll have written down your thoughts and even if you’re the only one who ever reads them, at least one person will have become better through your writing.

So ends my 30 days of daily blogging. I might keep going every day, or I might go to once a week. I make no promises. But I’ll see you all soon on here in one way or another. Thanks for stopping by!