Preliminary thoughts about why I write

Of course I write because I want to join the ever more densely populated swamp of millennial travel bloggers. I want to be one in a million remotely publishing hopefuls inexplicably getting paid to share snapshots of the hammock they’re currently rocking in or ever-so-influentially describe the musings running through their heads while road tripping, shopping and photogenically eating their way through 195 countries. 

Such obvious career goals aside, I started out doing the actual writing thing ‘for its own sake’ because #writingpractice suggested I should simply capture all the thoughts running through my head and miraculously something interesting and unique would eventually surface. Well, up to now 99% of my stream of consciousness is boring, navel-gazing narcissism that not even I myself want to see in published form. Except perhaps as poetry. Pretty much anything goes in poetry… Not.

Based on my personal experience with writing to date, I have to agree with Robert McKee:

“When talented people write badly, it’s generally for one of two reasons: Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove or they’re driven by an emotion they must express. When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason: They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience.”

Yes! Imagining that my scribblings will be posted here and perhaps even seen by you is the only motivation that can get me to reign in the rambling and figure out what really matters.

Joe Bunting of #thewritepractice says it’s the marriage between craft and core message that does the trick. Talking about what you truly care about, in a way that effectively and engagingly communicates your thoughts, feelings, knowledge to others.

What then is the topic, the message, the question I want to communicate with you about?

In one word: CURIOSITY

Curiosity leads to exploration, communication, self-realization, compassion, presence, wonder, awe. From these flow love and care and wisdom and balance – for self, for friends, for strangers, for earth. Curiosity is everything. May I cultivate my curiosity and inspire you to be more curious too.

And my hope is that while I write about following my curiosity, the craft of writing will also make me more curious. A writer is a traveler. She is an explorer of the hidden regions of her mind, uninvestigated relationships with her world, unnoticed details of people and places and experiences. I must pay attention to the fine print of my everyday life. Notice sights and sounds around me as if encountering them for the first time. And if I give them my full attention, it is always the first time.