Writing is the process of putting down on paper (or software) the thoughts in my head. With the additional constraint that whatever is put down makes coherent sense to myself (or someone else) that reads it at a later time.
We process thoughts in our heads all the time. We have new ideas of what we can do, what we can watch, what we can spend our money on, etc. We re-live instances that happened from different perspectives, "Did she mean that when she said that to me?". We visualise alternative scenarios and outcomes, "What if I had done that instead, things would have been so different!".
And all these thoughts and ideas come into our heads and leave it in no particular order. Or minds are like the busiest of airports or railway stations in that sense. Where ideas from everywhere come and go, some are quick to enter and exit while others linger on and some more keep visiting us again and again, either at fixed intervals or at random.
Putting down a fragment of these thoughts down on paper such that they make coherent sense involves us paying specific and special attention to certain thoughts, observing them more carefully, and deciphering where they are coming from and where they are headed. Just like in a railway station or an airport where we can observe that someone with a lot of suitcases probably arrived by taxi, and someone with souvenir bags is probably a tourist, and the platform or the gate they are headed towards indicate where they are headed next.
Sometimes, there are thoughts that need our conscious help in getting somewhere. Otherwise, they might simply linger on and wander around in our heads, lost. Usually, a person being lost in thought is because of such lost thoughts in their heads that do not know where to go next. And just like we would walk up to a lost person at the airport and help them find the right platform or gate to where they are headed, we pay attention to these lost thoughts and guide them to their logical conclusions - which are usually in the form of actions we promise/resolve to take.
Writing is one such process of observing from the outside. Most of what I write everyday has my thoughts as the primary focus, and having to put them down on paper forces me to observe and direct from the outside.
Meditation is another process that does the exact same thing - detached observation of our thoughts without judgement and possible prodding in the right direction.
Writing helps me take a look at my thoughts from the outside and to identify their origins and their possible destinations, and help resolve lost thoughts.
And that is why I write everyday.
We process thoughts in our heads all the time. We have new ideas of what we can do, what we can watch, what we can spend our money on, etc. We re-live instances that happened from different perspectives, "Did she mean that when she said that to me?". We visualise alternative scenarios and outcomes, "What if I had done that instead, things would have been so different!".
And all these thoughts and ideas come into our heads and leave it in no particular order. Or minds are like the busiest of airports or railway stations in that sense. Where ideas from everywhere come and go, some are quick to enter and exit while others linger on and some more keep visiting us again and again, either at fixed intervals or at random.
Putting down a fragment of these thoughts down on paper such that they make coherent sense involves us paying specific and special attention to certain thoughts, observing them more carefully, and deciphering where they are coming from and where they are headed. Just like in a railway station or an airport where we can observe that someone with a lot of suitcases probably arrived by taxi, and someone with souvenir bags is probably a tourist, and the platform or the gate they are headed towards indicate where they are headed next.
Sometimes, there are thoughts that need our conscious help in getting somewhere. Otherwise, they might simply linger on and wander around in our heads, lost. Usually, a person being lost in thought is because of such lost thoughts in their heads that do not know where to go next. And just like we would walk up to a lost person at the airport and help them find the right platform or gate to where they are headed, we pay attention to these lost thoughts and guide them to their logical conclusions - which are usually in the form of actions we promise/resolve to take.
Writing is one such process of observing from the outside. Most of what I write everyday has my thoughts as the primary focus, and having to put them down on paper forces me to observe and direct from the outside.
Meditation is another process that does the exact same thing - detached observation of our thoughts without judgement and possible prodding in the right direction.
Writing helps me take a look at my thoughts from the outside and to identify their origins and their possible destinations, and help resolve lost thoughts.
And that is why I write everyday.
CONVERSATION