When I have an idea.
I write.
When there’s something good going on.
I write.
When things get tough.
I write.
Writing has been a big part of my life since childhood. My great-grandma, who was a delightful painter and knew the value of artistic expression, used to buy me journal after journal for holidays, birthdays, or just because. When I would visit the family business she helped run, she would give me page after page from the printer so that I could write her stories.
Late in elementary school, I learned about Harriet the Spy and her book of observations. Since then, I am rarely without pen and paper… which is humorous, considering the smartphone age we live in. Ooh, there is nothing better than a smooth-writing pen… and the feel of the back of a piece of paper with all the indentations after you’ve written on it… me likey.
My office at home is full of Composition Books, yellow legal pads, and random pieces of paper (Post-Its, cut-outs, torn-off scratch paper) EVERYWHERE full of ideas, sayings… you get the picture—your girl WRITES.
As a kid, dealing with emotions, I used to write my confusion, my questions, my revelations… kind of like how I do with this website now! Whoa, you’re reading my diary…
During law school, I hated Legal Writing. It was so boring. It was like chores for the thing I love doing.
Writing is a chance to create new worlds. It allows me to explore ideas from new perspectives. When i sit down behind the keyboard or with a pad of paper, it feels like my chance to crack open the world.
Writing can help people. It’s cathartic. Sharing stories connects us—it explains different views of the world, opens the door for empathy to sneak in, and can make someone feel less alone. I’ve written books about depression, learning to like myself again, the Golden Rule, and to aid in hurricane relief.
Writing is life, man.
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