Writing

In every season I’ve walked through, I’ve been writing. I carry a notebook with me everywhere in case I need to jot something down. I bookend my day with writing to try to process and understand where I’m at and what I need. I spend most of my day writing on my laptop for work and fun or writing in my notebook. There’s something about crafting language that is congruent with the experience I am having in my mind – finally finding the words to explain where I’m at or what I’m wrestling with is liberating to my soul. Writing has been my constant companion throughout all of the chaos in my life. 

And somehow, throughout the last four years especially, I have written my way back to myself. I have found myself through the act of putting words to paper. That may sound far fetched, but stick with me. 

I started journaling regularly when I was a sophomore in high school. Daily drabbles about what happened at school turned into a tool for compassion, self understanding, and care for my soul. Journaling is a daily practice for me and has shaped my faith in ways I never would have expected. Choosing to dig into my mind and heart pulls me into a deeper understanding of myself and those around me. Even outside the realm of journaling, writing has been a helpful tool for me. Trying to craft a story, blogpost, or chapter in a book has pushed me toward vulnerability and self-understanding. I have to get in touch with my honest self in order to create in a way that’s congruent and not forced. 

My real thoughts, hopes, and dreams have snuck their way into my writing. In a season where I thought I had completely given up on the Church, I found myself writing profoundly hopeful passages about what the Church was meant to be: a holistic community that bears with one another through beauty and pain. In a time where I thought I had completely given up on myself, I wrote my way back home to my own soul. I found a renewed sense of purpose and grace within me that was brought forward through the act of writing. Hope can sneak its way out of our hearts and into the written word in new ways when we are disciplined to put ink on paper. 

I have learned to plumb the depths of my heart and discover what I truly value. I have found myself through writing and rediscovered what’s honest and congruent for me and my life. Through writing, I am constantly reminded to return to honesty and authenticity. I now know myself in new ways even from sitting down to write this blogpost. 

What do you think writing could do in your own life? I challenge you to put your pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and write – something, anything! Try journaling your thoughts or even writing a poem. Just start somewhere and see where your creativity takes you.