i wrote this to inspire you to write

"A writer is a world trapped in a person."

-Victor Hugo

I've been writing since I first learned how to hold a pencil. Or a pen. Or a marker. Or even a crayon. Anything I could get my hands on and mark something up with; paper, Kleenex, a white board, a piece of wood from dad's shop, my cat (yeah, that happened a few times). I don't think I ever graduated to writing on walls, but pretty much everything else - I wrote on it.

When I was seven, I wanted to be an author. I was convinced that I would skip college entirely and go on to write ten books and make a million dollars off of each one. I might even get a movie or two, in which actresses like Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway would star. At home, I would be surrounded by books and cats and mugs of hot chocolate, and life would be wonderful.

Now, I'm sixteen, my intended major is Criminal Psychology, and I'm allergic to most generic hot cocoa mixes (yeah, I didn't know that was a thing either). But I still write.

A couple months ago, a friend asked me what I like to write about most, and her question made me stop and think. My favorite thing to write about is connection. I love telling stories about how people make other people feel. And those feelings might not always be good ones - and that's okay. Because that is real. I like writing about the real stuff. I believe that if people read about and are exposed to the "real stuff," then they will go out into the world looking for the real stuff because they have been given a taste of it and are inspired to feel it for themselves. And then everyone will be looking for the real stuff, and everyone will be paying closer attention to the events and the people and the feelings around them. And I think that that's what makes communities work better. If everyone is more real, we are able to understand each other a little better.

I used to want to write books. Science fiction and historical fiction and fiction all around. But now I mostly want to write articles [about the aforementioned real stuff] to publish online so they can reach a wider demographic of readers. I know you can feel things when you read a really good book, but I think shorter, more condensed pieces that discuss things like political/societal issues and are laced with heartfelt emotion can make people feel more. I want to write things that people can relate to. I want to give my opinions and views, and discuss and learn about other people's views as well. I want a lot of people to be able to read my writing and respond to it; whatever it may mean for them to "respond."

I want people to know themselves. I want people to not be afraid to explore and ask questions and make mistakes. Don Cheadle said, "I think it's intoxicating when somebody is so unapologetically who they are." And it is my dream that everyone might have that moment when they realize that they don't have to hide anymore. My only true hope - the only thing I really need to accomplish with my writing - is that I could be the one to help at least one person come to that realization.

Which leads me to this.

Guys - WRITE. Even if you don't think you're any good at it. I cannot stress this enough. Writing is like lifting the lid on a pressure cooker to let out a little steam so the chicken inside doesn't get too saturated and heavy and gross. (Do you even cook chicken in a pressure cooker…? I don't know. Just work with me here.) Writing releases all the bad energy that is pent up inside of you and spills it out onto the paper in front of you. Writing can be scary - I get that. Because if you write those mean words that have been running around in your brain out on paper, then you'll be forced to look at them with your eyeballs, and they'll stare right back at you. And that might hurt for a couple seconds, because then they're real. But guess what? If those bully words are on that paper, that means they're not in your head anymore. And that's the most important thing. So WRITE - because it feels really, really good to get all those muddy thoughts and feelings OUT.

Writing introduces you to YOU. When you're feeling really, really strongly about something or you just get this surge of creativity and inspiration and you turn off your phone and plop yourself down in a quiet corner and pick up a pen and just write for even ten minutes, words come out that you may have not even known you had inside of you. Writing enables you to explore those parts of yourself that didn't really feel like revealing themselves out loud, but that are okay tumbling out in silence, onto paper. And then when you're all done writing and you go back and read what you scribbled out in those ten minutes, its like, whoa. Your inner voice is just there in front of you, visible on paper, and its kind of like looking in a mirror, but seeing inside instead of out. Pretty cool, huh?

Writing frees other people. When others read what you wrote (if you make the decision to let people read your work, which is an entirely personal decision, by the way), it sparks something inside of them. Like, "hey, she just did that. This is what she's thinking. I want people to know what I think, too." And then they go off and write, too. It's like a domino effect! A domino trail of writers! Don't you want to be a part of that domino trail?

Glennon Doyle Melton says all of this so much more gracefully. "If, anywhere in your soul, you feel the desire to write, please write. Write as a gift to yourself and others. Everyone has a story to tell. Writing is not about creating tidy paragraphs or choosing the "right" words. It's just about noticing who you are and noticing life and sharing what you notice. When you write your truth, it is a love offering to the world because it helps us feel braver and less alone. And if you're a really really bad writer, then it might be most important for you to write because your writing might free other really really bad writers to have a go at it anyway. If you feel something calling you to dance or write or pain or sing, please refuse to worry about whether you're good enough. Just do it. Be generous. Offer a gift to the world that no one else can offer: yourself. (Glennon Doyle Melton in her book, Carry On, Warrior.)

Let your wor[l]d out, friend. Pick up a pen and open a notebook, or start a blog like this one (it's really easy and free!), and pay attention to what you have to say. You might surprise yourself.

Live well.

h