why write?

“Limitations are the soil from which creativity grows.”
Jeffrey Zeldman

Thinking, dreaming, and feeling are complex, circular, and multi-dimensional. Writing is linear. When we write – whatever we write – we translate sensations, roundness, amorphous half-beings and ghosts, prisms, archetypes, half-known impulses, memories, proto-poetry, wishes, pain, joy, parallel universes, lunacy, sensations, and energy into line after line of art whose form is so restricted as to be laughable.

Writing exists in only three dimensions – height, width, and time: the shapes of the letters on a flat plane plus the time it takes to read. Our interior lives are multi-dimensional way beyond three. More like to the power of three. Or infinity. Engaging in the act of writing is the distillation of an infinity of dimensions down to only three.

Writing’s restrictive minimalism entices and toys with us, daring us to express ourselves in spite of the cage. And we do. And lives are changed. Again and again.

Every time any of us writes anything, we are metaphoric artists and spatial geniuses.

what i believe

• I believe the mastery trajectory for writing well is long-term and involves the whole person.
• I believe I am and will always be an apprentice, no matter how much mastery I gain.
• I believe in using the art of writing in order to grow and growing in order to further master the art of writing.
• I believe in curiosity, digging deep, thinking, and practice.
• I believe I have valuable, unique perspectives.
• I believe in supporting others to discover and express their valuable, unique perspectives.
• I believe in latching onto dreams so deeply right they provide sustenance and energy for the journey.
• I believe in loving the journey as much as the goal.
• I beleive in self-acknowledgment.
• I believe in rewards.
• I believe in the jet-pack of friendships, starting with befriending myself.

curiosity

The type of learning that makes a consistent difference in the finished product involves the whole person. Journeying into the interior is part of that process. We discover our own path as we ask questions and search for meaning. We report back through our creations.

One meaning of the word curiosity is an unusual, rare thing. A curiosity. Like you. We create better – more clearly, more uniquely, more confidently – when we value ourselves as curiosities, when we see ourselves as both odd and delightful.