I was just wondering, why writing? Where did this urge to write down selective experiences, thoughts or/and random stories, despite if they were interesting or not?
And it suddenly came to me like watching a short movie in my head. I remembered that scene from the movie “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, there was a scene in which Dumbledore extracts his own memories through a magic spell and saves that memory in an object called “The Pensieve” which is used to review memories by the owner and any other person. And this technique allows anyone to live, feel and see that memory.
And for me writing felt exactly the same. Going to my notebook/diary, or PC, opening my word document and start typing down, or writing down on my notebook what I’m seeing in my head and what I’m feeling in my heart and simply putting them down for everyone to access them and live them, and for me, believe me, it’s magic.
From the Movie:
Dumbledore: "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."
Harry: "You mean... that stuff's your thoughts?"
Dumbledore: "Certainly."
— Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter
It gives thrills all through my body; my heart starts pounding like it’s dancing on a pensive melody played in silence, that rush of adrenaline that a sport junkie would feel before jumping off a cliff and into the ocean.
Writing indeed is one of the most powerful means of communications. It’s the ultimate treasure. I frequently hear phrases like, my sword is my pen, or you can perish my existence but never the existence of thoughts and words, or that “Thoughts shape-up when put down in words”. I never really knew what they meant, but when I felt that itchiness within to just write, it’s when I start to realize why.
It started with an overwhelming feeling of experiencing and learning and gaining, it felt like witnessing the ultimate knowledge, a knowledge that only you can see, and then you’d have that flare of fear and excitement mixed together to pass on what you once witnessed, to pass on what you felt, what you learned, it feel like you want to enlighten, to open eyes, melt an icy crust on somebody’s heart.
That what made me write, that exact itchiness. But sometimes I just write because I simply feel like I want to talk to someone and to express, someone who’s undefined, someone who’s timeless and ageless, someone who doesn’t have a name or identity. I sometimes write to an empty existence that has everything and nothing; and through that existence I feel heard and find the best listener one can ever have.
“Sometimes only paper will listen to you” -Unknown
And above all I write to learn.
I write to preserve my memories, to go back to them and start connecting the dots. When I go back to what I once wrote, I learn new lessons, things that never made sense started to make, things from the past that gave strength to my present, and hope to my future.
“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I’m not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of”
-Jos Whedon
And keep in mind; you don’t have to publish a book to be a writer, or start a blog, or write in a newspaper or a magazine. Your only audience may be your papers, and that’s what it takes for you to be a writer.
“Writing is a calling not a choice” -Isabel Allende
“The writer is by nature a dreamer – a conscious dreamer” -Carson McCullers
Writing is what keeps me going, is my comfort, it’s like meeting an old friend after a long long time, someone whom you trust and cherish the most. It’s like sitting under an old oak tree in a sunny summer, next to fresh stream of water, as the gentle summer breeze blowing like it’s whispering to the oak’s leaves how much he loves her. Sitting with that friend in silence, breathing, and being. This is how writing feels to me.
And the best part is that it’s a timeless treasure that anyone can enjoy and live, a shared memory by whom is allowed to read.
Writing can be an escape to a different reality, or changing the present reality by itself to fit the writer. It’s an expression of the heart, mind and soul altogether; a dance that we seldom see. A platform that invites all elements to meet and dance, and eventually becoming one.
“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold. They change the world into words”
-William H. Gass
