Fall in Love with Your Writing
And keep on loving it.
This morning, I read my own writing.
I started by reading the first piece I published on Medium. Then I read a few more pieces I published after that — stream of conscious type blog posts, reflections on various life experiences, declarations of love for a country that became my soulmate.
After reading some of my published work, I opened my journal — one of two I currently keep. I started reading entries from last October. I was going through the Artist’s Way at the time and had committed to writing Morning Pages — a practice I love and want to make part of my daily life forever.
Then, I opened my creative journal. This is the second journal I keep. It’s a Moleskine I named Sunny. This is the journal I play in. I incorporate all sorts of different things here — gratitudes, goals, doodles, sketches, ideas, lists, foreign objects such as maps, dried flowers, etcetera, writing prompt responses from my writing group, and so on.
As I read through some of my writing, I got new ideas. I thought about how I could expand on some of my previous stories, or go in a different direction. Sometimes I get in the habit of thinking my old writing is gone and done and there’s nothing new to add to it. That’s not true, though — just like it’s not true that any of my life up until this point needs to be discarded.
I am a writer with many stories to tell. My life has been rich and varied and exciting and painful and beautiful. I enjoy writing about things happening in the moment, like I am now. I also enjoy reflection. I enjoy writing about all sorts of things from social justice to music and dance to travel to faith to life lessons and lifestyle and life questions — and other things I’m forgetting.
I don’t like to limit myself. I don’t want to censor my ideas. I believe they exist for a reason and that they are unique to me — even though we share so much on this beautiful journey, the human experience. I dream of writing books and getting them published and hanging out with Cheryl Strayed. I also recognize how, at this time, it’s better for me to focus on getting things out in smaller doses. All of this can exist together, and it’s ok.
I love my writing. All of it. The short incoherent notes I make in my iPhone, the simple, sweet captions I add to my photos on Instagram, the thoughtful emails and texts and letters I write to the people in my life, the lists I make with colorful Sharpies, the articles I spend hours working on and feel proud of, even if only one person reads them — all of it. I love all of it.
That’s another thing that happened this morning as I read some of my stories: I fell in love with my writing again. And that’s what prompted me to write this to you. If you’re reading this, you are likely a writer. And from one writer to another, I wanted to pass you a little note:
Fall in love with your writing.
Ignore all noise that might discourage you from doing this. Seriously, command it to leave your thoughts and presence. Send any negative self-talk, words from others, or anything else that might hinder the process, far far away. Banish the critical voices and practice radical love toward yourself as a creative human.
Give yourself some time to appreciate your own work. Take a look at all you’ve accomplished on your writing journey. Hold your journal in your hands and smell its pages and see what jumps out at you. Find all the beauty and healing and redemption and humor and power and life in your words. Read that first blog post you shared publicly and marvel at how brave you are for sharing your work with others. You are brave, you know.
Take some time to appreciate your tools and your creativity space and your writing rituals. Go on and remind yourself how fun you make the experience of writing for yourself — with your special pens and your favorite writing music and your fantastical computer case with the llamas and giraffe sitting in a Volkswagen bus with a California license plate, parked at the beach somewhere. (Ok, that’s my computer case.:))
Acknowledge all the pieces of your writing life. Recognize how incredibly amazing it is you’ve been given this gift. Thank God or whoever/whatever you believe in for the remarkable ability to take thoughts and ideas and experiences from your head and transfer them to paper and screen for others to enjoy.
Your writing is precious. Believe it. Own it. Shine it bright for the rest of us to see and enjoy.
Fall in love with your writing, and keep on loving it. I know I’m going to.
Lindsay Linegar is a writer living in her home state, California. Her educational background is in International Development (MA), Psychology (BA), and she has significant experience as a creativity coach. She currently finds herself thrilled to be a dog walker and yoga student as she works on her first book, based on her three-year adventure in South Sudan. She loves making meaningful connections with humans, wondering at nature, doodling, listening to good music, and more than anything, dancing. You can reach her through email at lindsaylinegar@gmail.com
