Why do I Write?

Why do I write? I write to smooth the sharp and jagged edges of my mind. I write to find the clarity that comes when pen meets paper, and starts moving without thought or premeditation. I write to still the circular thoughts skating endlessly around the periphery of my mind.

I write to free the muffled stirrings of my heart. I write to access source. I write because I know answers will come that my brain cannot fathom. I write because it is my bones. I write because there are stories from yonder realms seeking a human hand to make them manifest.

I write to feel the power of the alchemist, to turn unendurable pain into beautiful sounds and rhythms. I write because when I don’t, I lose the reflective quality that gives me distance from my own life.

I write to record fleeting moments that will otherwise fade into oblivion. So there will be a trace of me when I’m gone. I write to counter the inevitability of impermanence.

I write because it is one of the gifts of being human. The capacity to give wings to imaginary worlds and make them real. I write so I can invite you into the innermost depths of my being.

I write because I can’t fly. And so, I write.

© Jenny Brav