Writing

Writing can help you work out problems in your life. By writing things down or recording them in some form you can often see through things you couldn't see through before. I have often said I began writing more at 8 years old because I was an only child and my 16 year old cousin died and I felt very vulnerable at the time because (if this could happen to him: death) then this might also happen to me.

Another time I experienced this was when I was 15 and President Kennedy was assassinated and for some reason my reaction was not wanting to die a virgin which seems humorous to me now but quite serious then at age 15. So, I asked my friend whose name was Gail in English Class in High school when I was a sophomore to go to a movie which is the first time I had tried to date someone. She said: "Yes" and we went to something likely called: "Beach Blanket Bingo" with Annette Funicelo and Frankie Avalon who were both singer actors at the time which was usually something about surfing (and other movies like this). This would have been 1963.

So, reacting to the death of someone you know or think you know in your life is often something you don't expect to have to deal with and so writing (whether you publish it ever or not) can help you through very hard times.

One of the ways this helps is to realize that the person writing what you write and the person reading what you write are two different people because we are always changing. So, the present you that writes it is not the person who reads what you write. In this way you can have conversations with different sides of yourself and gain new insights into your predicaments in life that you might not have seen otherwise.

This is a mark of an intelligent person who can understand this form of human evolution and understanding.

Writing and music and art are some of the things people invented in order to survive their lives better and to make their lives more worthwhile if possible.