Read, write, reflect.

 

It’s that time of the year where we all tend to reflect on how our year has been and whether or not we should start making New Year’s Resolutions. I tend not to make any New Year’s Resolutions because I firstly can’t really be bothered and secondly I view each year as a smooth transition of the previous year; it’s a journey and I intend on experiencing it, good and bad, without any limitations or restrictions.

I’ve been in a phase of reflection since mid-November; the usual “where am I going with this” and such thoughts regularly cross my mind. My thoughts have lately centred on my work as a writer and a blogger. It’s become fashionable for one to say: “I’m a blogger” to a sea of awe-inspired people without really knowing what one’s aim, ambition and purpose is. Admittedly, I was like that for the first month of my blogging journey, but after that vacuum of winging it, I eventually figured out the aim, ambition and purpose of my blog.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and I took my love for writing into the blogging world in April 2012. This year, I’ve seen my content grow, develop and reach goals that I’d only dreamed about when I was really young. Writing is an intrinsic part of who I am and I firmly believe that it’s an essential skill that is consistently undermined and overlooked. To be able to write well is a gift and talent to the world. Writing is one of the most basic forms of communication, it has the power to move people, create change, pass on knowledge and give writers the opportunity to create literary worlds for their readers to access. The fact that I’m writing this blog, that you are reading this blog and many other things is an example of how privileged we are to be able to read and write, for there are millions of people around the world who cannot do so. To be able to write is a form of power, as this article so articulately explains: click here to read

In a world where we have become accustomed to watching people instead of listening to and reading what people have to say, many of us have devalued writers and what it means to write. It’s no wonder that blogging has really taken off and become a phenomenon of the Internet: it is about everyday people writing about their experiences, which is what we seem to be lacking.

As a writer, I always try and encourage those I tutor, work with, meet and collaborate with to write more and watch less. I cannot describe the happiness I feel when a reader of mine emails me or sends me a tweet telling me that my blog has inspired them to start up a blog and write about their daily life. To hear a child, whom I help with his writing and spelling, look at me and say: “I didn’t know that I could make my own world with words! I’m going to make a big world with words now and it is my own world” fills me with humility and joy. Writing and inspiring others to pick up their pen is one of the biggest gifts I couldn’t have ever imagined myself giving to others. Yet since I began my blogging odyssey, it’s something I’ve been subconsciously doing.

So why did I start writing? As a child I wrote so that I could feel safe and comforted from what happened to me; it was my coping mechanism. As an adult, I write because I love writing and can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Writing allows us to have an hour or two of peace, a moment alone with our thoughts and the opportunity to put them onto paper. In a world immersed in technology, it’s rare for us to actually make time for such things.

Til this very day, I find it incredible how a few inky characters blotting a page can weave a world that can sway our minds, hearts and emotions. I love the way that emotions and memories have a habit of clinging onto a book or a piece of poetry – every time I read TS Eliot’s “The Waste Land” it reminds me of cold evenings curled up in bed reading his poems. Writing has a way of following us wherever we go and it certainly has been that way with me.

2013 has been an incredible year – you know when you reach out and can just about touch your dream with your fingertips? I had the rare opportunity to do that. As a result, I plan on making 2014 an even more incredible year to share with my readers – whether you’ve been with me from the beginning, half way or recently, my blog is what it is because of your support. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year full of everything you want.