Finish This Sentence

The car is where I listen to the radio. Going here to there, catching segments of shows. The best is when I catch one that makes the world more interesting & expand for me (read, not a news broadcast or update on latest crisis).

That’s a rarity where I live & travel in New Mexico, tho. The good ones broadcast during nighttime hours & weekends. Science Friday the exception. But when I catch one, it makes the day better.

My most recent gem was interviews with Native American writers on To The Best of Our Knowledge. 

I love diving into the subtleties & layers of culture and sociology, understanding better who people are, what makes us tick. What matters to folks.

I write about finding what matters to you, and teach how to get there. I say how we’re always in the stories we write, and illustrate the ways it shows up. This broadcast with Native writers was about it all. And at the end…different voices answered the question why they write. 

In June I was asked that very question in a workshop. I couldn’t answer in one sentence. How does one choose?! When I got home this week, after listening to those voices, I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, the groceries still in the bag on the counter.

I write to feed my curiosity & wonder, and to hold it.
I write to set my creative soul free.
I write to discover parts of myself,
and stretch. 

To reach that place inside that answers Yes to the question ‘Am I OK.’

I write to touch beauty.
I write to touch you,
to have a relationship with you.

I write to fight narrative scarcity,
to show what needs to be seen.

I write to touch the heart,
so you’re never afraid of your own Voice.

I write to tell stories you wouldn’t hear if spoken aloud,
to make a difference.

I write because it tells me who I am,
and tells me who we are. . .in adversity, in good and hard times.
I write to see the both/and, good/bad, black/white of life on earth

I write because it shows me my heart when I’m seeing only holes in myself.

What I know for sure. . .We are made to create, to experience and know life with our whole being – mind, heart, body, spirit. We are made for connection. Writing is connection, with ourselves and each other. As is art, and every other single thing we do. 

So, now it’s your turn. Finish this sentence:

 I write (or make art, or          ) because…..

Share in the comments below. (doesn’t it feel good?)

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