Life Lessons Learned Through Writing

I have been in a bit of a writing frenzy lately. I am sure that many of you may be wondering why there has been a rather large influx of new content here recently. Granted, I like to publish to this site as frequently as life will allow. Any of you that have blogged or written anything in the past realize that the task can at times be daunting. There will almost certainly be times when you feel like you really have nothing to say or to write about in the midst of your daily grind, or simply don’t feel like you have the time to get it down on paper.

There are times when the “time factor” is a reality, times when 24 hours in a day just don’t seem like enough time to get everything done. But there are also times when that same “time factor” just becomes a convenient excuse.

So the question becomes this: what happened to make me suddenly start writing like a wild man? Frankly, it comes down to something very simple: I called myself out on my own resolutions.

One of my New Years Resolutions was simple: to write more, to write more consistently, and to become a better writer in the process. One of the best ways to improve your writing is by – writing. With that in mind, I set the bar – to write 100 blog posts in 2011. That amounts to a new post every 3.7 days.

As I have mentioned before, I recently participated in NaNoWriMo – a writing adventure which entails writing a novel within the month of November. Well, I found out that it could be done. What sounded like a huge challenge – 50,000 words in 30 days – became very reasonable once I put my mind to it. But I also found out that the “inner editor” in all of us prevents us from accomplishing many of our goals. There always seems to be something that creeps up on us to occupy our time, our focus, or perhaps even our imagination. That same voice within us helps to maintain the status quo, and keeps us well within our comfort zones.

But one thing that NaNoWriMo makes you realize is that there really is no better time than the present – in this case, no better time to sit down and hammer out the first draft of a novel. Why not now? I was reminded yet again of the phrase: If not now, then when – and if not you, then who?

What you then realize is that the process of writing consistently allows you to become a better writer in the process. It gives you a consistency of effort to refine your art and your skills. Strangely enough, what doesn’t get better with consistency of effort? Sure, our art and our skills improve with that consistency of effort, but so does just about everything in life. Our relationships with others get better when we provide a consistent foundation – consistency of actions and consistency of behaviors. That same consistency allows us to provide a solid foundation for growth and learning – for ourselves and for others. And in much the same way, there is no better time than now. If not now, then when? If not you, then who?

Writing has become a great outlet, and it has served as a great means of expression on topics that I am passionate about – as a person that lives on this planet, in this community, or in this profession. What I didn’t realize is that it would also remind me of some simple life lessons in the process. Why not now? And why not me?