Because We Have To

A few days ago,  I was really feeling down

I wasn’t my bubbly self and I haven’t written creatively in a few days

I had a busy weekend coming up that I needed to be myself.

I had a few hours after I had finished my work and before I had to run off somewhere

so I wrote a chapter my novel and couldn’t stop

within three hours I wrote 1550 words

it just started spilling out of me and my fingers were foxtrotting across the keyboard.

After I finished,

I was full of energy again and back to myself.

I think I had so many words that needed to come out that they were literally weighing me down

I write because I like to and because I have something to say,

but also because I have to.

Today I was rereading my second favorite book and it fit perfectly:

“What I’m trying to say is some people do things because they feel they have to. Some people paint pictures or make sculptures because they want to. They choose to do it. But some people do it because they feel that’s what they must do. . . . [Creating art or writing] it’s the only way they know how to make sense of themselves and the only way they can make sense of life. It’s the only way they know how to say something about themselves and about life they feel they need to say. . . . Strikes me you’re saying you do it to keep yourself alive.”

~ Aidan Chambers in Dying to Know You

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