Writing

Writing as been coming at me from all directions lately. Not paper writing or school writing, the kind that makes your heart groan to think about, but "being a writer" writing, the kind that flows easily (or sometimes not so easily) from brain to hands to keyboard and makes the writer feel like a little part of their soul is represented on the screen. I read two blog posts today that really made me think, one by a writer I follow on twitter John Acuff and another by my friend Annie Morgan, who is an amazing writer. John wrote that someone recently asked him what his secret is to being a writer and to making a life of following his passion. His answer was simply that he writes. He makes the decision every day that he is going to write. He doesn't contemplate whether he feels like it or ask himself if he has more productive things to do, he just writes, for better or worse. Annie's thoughts were a little more philosophical. Today is her 20th birthday, and it has prompted her to start a 365 day project she calls "The 20th Year". Her goal is to write every day for the next year about her life, with the goal of capturing some more of the fullness of life and of exploring what it means to her to be a writer. Both of these entries really struck me because both of these people are taking their passion and their gift and doing something with it, where I feel like I am not doing anything with mine. I've always been too busy in the past (that's part truth, part excuse), but this year I've had plenty of free time and I have done nothing. I don't need to write a book, I can start small. Annie is keeping a blog with the intention of making it a channel for her writing rather than just a method for keeping up with friends. I want to do something like that, to really own my gift and stop just thinking about it. I suppose I will start here. I know myself well enough not to set a goal of posting every day like Annie is, but more often, and with more care to what I write? I can do that, and I think I will. But I'm done just thinking. I will.