I Need to Write

Have you ever felt that way? Thought those same exact thoughts? A concise sentence of only four words identifying your craving for a page. An area to unwind your mind.

What’s funny about that desire is it may lead to something or it may lead to nothing. Some nights, I am convinced I am sitting on some phenomenal material, ready to viciously attack parchment with typeface, to end up with one short paragraph.

Just one week ago, I was ready and convinced that the patience we had in 1998 was leaps and bounds the patience level in 2024. The patience we had for lines, to sit through a full movie at home or in the theater without truly being distracted, the patience for impatience, and the list goes on and on.

The passage was six sentences and the last line was “in 1998, being patient was cool. So cool.”

While it would be fun to continue with that theme and narrative, I’m not going to.

Writing is nuanced in a way that squeezes the stressors out of your mind, and is an incredible barometer for how stressed you really are. The less words, the less stressed.

In some ways, I am muddling the terms writing and journaling. Writing is singularly focused with identifiable themes or characters. Journaling is a non-fancy word that signifies “getting your thoughts down on paper.”

Whether it is an important presentation, or an important discussion, collecting your thoughts in advance is crucial to success. While writing or journaling isn’t preparing you for anything, it is a natural way to collect your thoughts. It is just you and the page having a one-way conversation – a conversation that you may or may not want to share with others.

These words and this post are teetering on the fence of shareable.

And whether I share or not, it won’t impact how writing it makes me feel. Maybe I’ll pay closer attention to punctuation and word choice. It will take more time than spewing unrelated sentences together that combine some overarching themes and some very real-time thoughts about my expectations for tomorrow.

The string between writing and patience and relaxing is a toolkit to massage your mind. Although we have different remedies, being able to relax the mind is a crucial tool for everyone.

“A relaxed mind is a powerful mind” some philosopher once said. And ever since I read that, I thought to myself, ‘that is so true’ and continue brainstorming ways in order to keep your mind relaxed. Some simple solutions are A) don’t invite distractions if you don’t have to. B) Keep your mind occupied but do it in a productive way. C) ‘Make – move – meet’ was another expression to get yourself out of a funk. Go say hi to someone, do some laundry, start preheating the oven.

I want to know more and always am seeking out other suggestions for staying balanced upstairs. Because everyone knows what is good for you. Eat fruits and vegetables every day, read and / or write consistently, and socialize. The power of community is actually number one. But please find me one person that has done that the last 30 days. Life gets in the way and then you have to find your own program to be able to tell yourself ‘oh yea we’re good now.” One of those outlets for me is writing. You felt the desire and need in my title. If you feel the same way, let me know. If you feel something different when you need a release, also pass those thoughts along. And if it is to smoke a nice, fresh, super legal joint, let’s do it together. Because togetherness is undefeated. And writing has a very strong track record.