Why I Write
Writing has always been a cathartic activity that I’ve turned to in times of trouble and in periods of joy. After a long break from the habit, I recently decided to pick it up again—this time with no rules or expectations, just the freedom to write about anything I feel like. As a new mom, my days are filled with repetitive tasks of tending to a little human (hello nappies and washing bottles). With the major shift in identity from woman to mom, I felt the need to do something challenging and invigorating for myself and to exercise my brain in a different way, even if just for 30 minutes. Writing has always been a part of who I am, and this decision feels like coming back to something that’s been waiting for me. It’s more than a hobby—it’s how I process emotions, reflect on experiences, and connect with others as well as myself. Today, I’m using this post to explore why writing matters so much to me.
In a YouTube video, Tim Ferriss shares how writing can help sharpen your thought processes, and so many of his reflections resonate with my own experience. He talks about writing as a tool for clarity, growth, and exploration. For me, those reasons and navigating my own inner demons (anxiety, fear, depression) are at the heart of why I pick up a pen to journal or sit at a keyboard to blog day after day. I realise that the more I write each day, the more ideas and topics surface that I want to explore. The key to overcoming the writers block I was experiencing has been to write every day, no matter how good or bad I perceive the outcome to be.
Writing Clarifies and Organises My Thoughts
Our minds, let me speak for myself, my mind, can feel messy and jumbled—cluttered with ideas, worries, and half-formed plans. Writing helps me clear that clutter. Writing allows me to zone into one topic and organise it in a logical way, creating a structure and flow. It’s almost a practice of laying out my cluttered thoughts and sorting through it piece by piece.
Especially when I’m deep in a negative rut, the thoughts that felt overwhelming or tangled suddenly become manageable when I see them on the page. It helps create perspective.
Writing helps me turn mountains into molehills, and it gives me a way to process the jumble of emotions that I often experience in my life.
To Process Challenges
I think we can all appreciate that life is rarely neat and tidy — and never static. Blink and your whole life has changed. Challenges arise no matter where you are. You think that once you overcome your current issue, life will be great, but the truth is, there will always be something. The goal then is to minimise how you can prevent life’s stresses from draining your energy. Writing gives me a way to sit with my challenges, to face them head-on instead of pushing them aside or avoiding them.
It’s a space where I can observe my fears, doubts, and uncertainties. Sometimes, the act of writing itself brings solutions or new perspectives. Other times, it simply allows me to release what’s weighing me down. Either way, it’s a tool for healing and growth.
To Explore My Curiosities
There’s a quote that says, “Write what you know.” But for me, writing is also about exploring what I don’t know and uncovering how I feel about things. It’s how I dive into topics that intrigue me, uncover different perspectives I hadn’t considered, and ask questions I don’t yet have answers to.
Whether I’m reflecting on a personal experience or delving into a new idea, writing is my way of connecting and exploring topics in the world.
To Preserve Moments and Emotions
Writing is also my way of capturing life as it happens. Moments, thoughts, and emotions are fleeting, and writing lets me hold onto them a little longer. It’s like taking a snapshot in time.
Sometimes I go back to read something I wrote years ago, and it feels like it’s been written by an old friend. From these old journals or essays, I’m reminded of how far I’ve come and can remember the things that I’ve gone through. This empowers me and gives me confidence that whatever I’m experiencing now, whatever troubles or overwhelming emotions I may have, these too shall pass and be part of the experiences that shape me.
To Connect with Others
Writing often feels like a solitary act, but really, it’s also a way of reaching out across the isolation that many of us feel. Sharing my words creates a bridge between me and those reading—people who might feel the same way, who might need a reminder that they’re not alone.
When someone reads my writing and says, “I needed this,” or “that’s a different perspective,” it reminds me why I keep going. Writing isn’t just for me; it’s for the connections it fosters and the conversations it sparks.
To Understand Myself
Ultimately, writing is about understanding myself better. It’s how I reflect on who I am, my behaviours, what I value, and what I want from life. It’s a mirror that reflects my inner thoughts and it helps guide me forward.
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Tim Ferriss calls writing a tool, and I think of it the same way. It’s a tool for clarity, a tool for healing, and a tool for connection. But it’s also more than that—it’s a mindfulness practice.
Writing helps create self awareness by allowing for more clarity. It’s how I process, explore, and grow.
And that’s why I write. Not because I have to, but because I can’t not write. It’s my way of making sense of the world—and of myself.
