I Write For The Joy It Brings

I entered the blogosphere for the sheer pleasure of doing something I have always wanted to do but never did get into doing it – write. I could not pride myself as having excellent writing skills but I have always loved putting my thoughts down on paper.

Writing opened to me a way to escape from a world that can often be harsh. My frustrations, anger and pain found their expressions in words I wrote down. At the start, it was all I wanted to do - immortalize the feelings of rejection in ink. My early writings spoke of a woman drowned in self pity and seething with rage. I saw the warning signs as at it blinked. I know I needed to pull the brakes and I did. Soon, I began to see myself in my manuscripts emerged from the shadows of self-flagellation to the lights of self-redemption. I was writing not simply about what I felt. This time it was more focused on why I felt the way I did and what I needed to do to get myself out.

Healing my bruises maybe a big push behind my wanting to write but while I write as a way to seek joy so do I write to celebrate the joys that come into my life. Knowing more about the pains that are thrust my way has a way of making the joys I encounter magnified.

My granddaughter sitting beside me as I write this piece says I give her the impression I lived a sad life. True, like anybody else, I had my share of down moments but I also had my share of walking on paths strewn with roses. But writing, as I have said, was the straw I grasped on each time I find myself gasping for breath.

Writing down my thoughts helped me know myself better. It made me discover the person that I am. It helped shed light on the flaws of my person I did not want to see. It brought out the strength in me I never knew I had. This has helped me to rise above being a victim to the sadness and pain I went through to being a winner by prodding myself to move on believing that being down does not define your life. It is what you do to get yourself up that counts.

I write because it is my way of making the most out of living. I write for the joy it brings.