Writing

[Photo](www.flickr.com/photos/paloetic/6381538651) by [palo](www.flickr.com/photos/paloetic/6381538651)

What is writing for me?

For me, most importantly it’s a thinking tool. The best way I know of to separate yourself from what you have in your head and by doing so, be able to put objectivity into your thinking. It also enables to work on ideas in a way which is almost impossible to do just in your own head, where a lot of unrelated thoughts interfere with what are you trying to think about. Whether it’s because of a better focus or some other aspect, I don’t know, but I know that it works exceptionally well.

It’s also a communication tool. A way of transforming whatever occupies your mind into a physical, concrete form, which can be passed to others. It’s liberating and satisfying, to be able to express your ideas in a way which others can hopefully understand. The most interesting part is that everybody has ideas worth sharing. How to make others to share them with the rest of the world?

Putting your thoughts on paper (virtual or not) also gives you an ability to step back from yourself and see you, as a person, from an external vantage point. It’s a little bit like attempting to see how others look at you, which is a perspective we seldom attempt to take. It’s a shame, because it helps enormously with better understanding who we are.

The last, at least for me, text itself is beautiful to look at. All those lines and dots, seemingly a random mess but then, with a set of rules and an internal rhythm. The order and chaos playing together. You can study writing, the same way as a picture. But writing besides graphical form also contains a message, a thought, an idea, same as good pictures, yet here, the message is direct, less nuanced.

It’s not only restricted to the languages I can understand. Sometimes unknown alphabets have even greater pull, guarding its secrets tightly and challenging me to decipher it.