Individual Pursuit

April 11, 2011
A to Z Blogging Challenge
Day 9 - I




Of all things I’ve set my hands to, writing is the most solitary, the most individual pursuit I know. Yes, it falls short of the individual existence, that thing of spirit and skin we alone can experience, but our singular being is all that surpasses the pursuit of writing. Writing is pulling pure thought from the essence of self and committing it to the page.

I like to think writing is for introverts, perhaps because I am one. Years ago, an employer gave everyone in the company ye olde Myers-Briggs test, and I’m so far into being an ISTJ, the HR idiot thought I fudged some of my answers. I moved on from that company. Like Popeye, ‘I yam who I yam’.

The long hours spent staring at a blank computer screen isn’t for everyone. And hitting the delete key and dumping a thousand words one just wrangled into a coherent existence isn’t for the faint of heart. Writing is not easy. Writing can be lonely. Writing will rip dreams and secrets out of you and splash them across the page for all to see. Fail to recognize what writing does to you, and you bleed for all to see.

And yet, every day, I never hesitate to place my fingers on the keys and type. Some nights it’s a struggle to pull five hundred words out of the air. Some nights my fingers can’t move fast enough. I never know until I begin what sort of evening it will be. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.

There is much of the power of creation to writing. A single pure thought takes on life and light and becomes real. I coax the characters alive to share my mind and my days until their stories are told and then brutally cast them aside to embrace others. But they never completely leave because they are part of me. Scary, isn’t it?

And it’s wonderful. Have I regressed to my childhood with my imaginary friends? No. I share them with you, the reader, and allow you to see into myself – if you know where to look.

I practice my individual pursuit with great passion, and by doing so find that I am never lonely, and never truly alone.

KC

PS. The picture is of a mouse pad I got at a craft fair. The fellow has them for a variety of occupations and sports. I wish I still had his business card because his creations are unique and fun. If he's at the Mountain Heritage Festival in June, I'll get a new card and share his url with you.