January 13, 2011- What Can I Say?

    

     The title of today’s blog is in tribute to a friend of mine from way back.  There were very few people with whom I was comfortable sharing my journals and writing growing up, and by growing up I mean not only as a junior high and high school student (I started journaling off and on around age 12 when my 6^th grade teacher assigned it to us in class, and I became hooked outside of class), but also as an adult until the last few months.  This blog has helped me to open up and begin sharing things in writing with the wider world that I never would have dared to share previously. I am thankful for that, and all the other benefits writing has brought me over the years, but there are days when I struggle over what to write about, and obviously, there are days when my musings are just that, musings, devoid of any spectacular insights to share or wisdom to relay.

     When I was in college and dared to share my writing with my friend and next door neighbor from my apartment complex, I would often start my writing with the title question of this entry, “What can I say?”  He used to tease me about that way of starting my written reflections, but I look back now and realize that was how I got myself going when writer’s block was setting in.  I didn’t know what to write, and I needed to write something, to start somewhere, revolutionary or not, to move into the writing mode. Surprisingly, it worked! And it appears that it still does as I was at a loss for what to reflect upon tonight as well. 

     That’s what journaling is all about anyway, not what you write or even how you write, just that you are writing.  One common exercise to get students in writing classes going is to have them write for 5 or 10 minutes without stopping. The rules are simple, write anything that comes into your head, making sure to keep your pen moving until the teacher says stop.  This may mean you write, “I don’t know what to write” or “Hello” over and over again, but eventually, your mind will give you more words to play with, and most students are surprised that such a simple exercise can get them writing more than they ever have before and sometimes they even begin enjoying it!  So, what can I say?  I love writing, no matter how it starts or ends, because it’s the adventure of figuring out where it’s going to take you and enjoying the journey along the way that makes it worthwhile, just like life!