To be honest, I’ve never honestly looked at myself as a writer. Am I truly a writer? If I were to compare to myself to some of my favorite writers than no, I’m not. But what really is a writer? Webster’s Online Dictionary defines a writer as “someone whose work is to write books, poems, stories, etc.” or “someone who has written something”. Now if we define writer the same way that Webster’s does, all of us are writers. We’ve all written something in our lives whether it be essays during schooling, an email to a friend or family, a post on a social media site, or a blog post such as this. So yes, I am a writer and so are you. All of our experiences as writers differ. There are some who have gone to the farthest reaches of the earth to write stories about unseen cultures, others have written about their travels and exotic foods they may have come across, others write about the daily news happening locally and internationally. But regardless, we all have some sort of experience with writing. This is my reflection on my writing experience and hopefully it will not only help me in future writing endeavors, but will also help others in their own.
Academia – Writing in school was always something I dreaded growing up. It was not something that I could look forward to and it was not because a lack of trust in my ability. I honestly knew that if I were willing to put forth the work necessary, I could write well and be successful in school doing so. However, as an adolescent, I lacked the drive and willingness to write. When an assignment would come across my desk or be written on the board, the first thing my eyes would do is look at the amount of words required in said assignment. If when I looked at it, it showed more than 500 words, I automatically shut down. You see, I knew that I could sit down and write down a paper that was less than 500 words easily in a single sitting with a can of coke and my headphones in while listening to whatever music that I fancied at the time. But when it came to something longer than this, I knew it would require actual work. Work for me in high school was the last thing on my mind. Like many of my peers, my focus was on sports, girls, and whatever party was going on that weekend. It wasn’t until I left school that I found the power that words held. Throughout my schooling I of course had to read great works written for different reasons that could all resonate with you in one way or another. Whether it be something from Hemingway, a great speech from someone like Martin Luther King, Jr., an editorial on current events, or even the emotions that can be stirred up by a well written song. It was when I realized the power that words hold, that I eventually began to love, understand, and admire the works of authors, speechwriters, songwriters, and even bloggers. Because of my late intellectual blooming in the aspect of writing, I failed as a writer throughout my adolescence. And this is something that has haunted me to this day.
Emergence of a Thinker – After my adolescence I soon went through a period that I fondly refer to as my “academic renaissance”. This was a period of time that I think many of us have gone through whether we realize it or not. This the time that I thought I was smarter than my peers. I knew there were others out there who were and still are much more intelligent than myself, but during this time, those people were like a mathematical outlier. They weren’t things that I cared too much about because they skewed not only the perception I had of my own intelligence, but also the average for human intelligence that I had developed. Because of this very reason, I blocked those people out. I made special exceptions now and then for people who were thought of as great thinkers but were dead because those people didn’t factor in to current societies average intelligence in my book. People like Nietzsche, Plato, Socrates, and many others were people that I looked up to, even though they were obviously of greater intelligence levels than myself. These were people that, again, were dead and therefore didn’t factor into my current way of looking at society. It wasn’t until I became interested in things bigger than myself that I began to shred this antiquated and frankly immature way of thinking. I began to look introspectively and really tear apart the world that I built up around myself. This was a time of great awakening for myself. I started looking at the world around myself as something that I needed to better myself because of, instead of being better than. It is this period of time that I find myself in now. The time that I once again appreciate the power of words and the things that words can accomplish. Our words, whether written or spoken, have great importance on society. Words has caused and ended wars, they have built and crumbled entire empires, they have fostered religions and some of the greatest free thinkers the world has seen, and they still to this day affect each and every single one of us on a daily basis. Our ability to use our words in a distinct manner can help relieve our stress, can help us express empathy for a loved one, can help us express our passion or disgust for a specific topic, and as we see on a daily basis, can become a foundation for others to build their opinions upon. And in a world of ever growing transparency, our choice of words is something that we constantly have to be on top of because of these very reasons.
It is for these reasons that I challenge anyone who may read this to reflect upon yourself as a writer, as a thinker, and as a speaker. Are you using your talent and intelligence to the best of your ability? I can personally admit that I am not, but because of this, I seek to better myself in this arena on a daily basis. Can you say the same for yourself?
Higher Primate 