On Writing, again

Writing is the reason why I survive in my day-to-day life. I process my joys and griefs in my journal and assign words that almost speak for the emotions I know are far from over.

Yesterday, during a short talk with Ate Belle before church service, she allowed me to peek into her life over burgers and ice cream as discussion enablers. Ate Belle opened up about the challenges she has endured in life, including the battle she went through with her mother and survived alone.

I would not dare claim that I can handle her story, but she made it seem bearable in her recall, in her words in a careful narration.

"Everyone has a story to tell, Mark," she shared. In my synthesis now, one day later, Ate Belle was right. We all have a perspective to share, magnify, or generalize to fit a context and purpose. As a writer, for work and personal life, this is the gift of writing: taking charge of one's narrative, arranging words, transitioning from one idea to another, and packaging them all together into multiple sheets that sound one.

I will remember this on my high and low days, even during my downtime when I find writing or journaling unnecessary. Because in whatever aspect of life, writing thrives; whoever yields it even in sleep is powerful.

If I obsess over deadlines and finish lines before, now I am convinced that there's no point in doing such. The act of writing taught me that, in life, pauses and short breaks exist for resting and perhaps conscious breathing. Once you're ready, you write again. You never really end a story because everything is ongoing.

When you realize it, you will know that you are a god in your writing. The strength and wisdom are His, but the action is yours. So, take and wield your power, Writer.