I love it just as much as I hate it.

Just kidding. That’s probably the worst way I could start this article. So cliché. But everyone does love a good cliché, there’s no denying that.

How I really feel about writing… I feel the same way about writing as I do about – I’m sorry, I’m stuck. I was thinking of comparing writing to bananas but that wasn’t really going anywhere. I went into this thinking I would have such a strong, unheard of comparison to my feelings about writing, but I’m seriously stumped. I think I was trying to compare things that were far too different from each other. Let me just slow my role. Hold on a sec.

Okay, I’m ready.

I feel the same way about writing as I do about naps. I love them. I take naps almost every day. I can survive a day without a nap; I just don’t like it as much. Sometimes I nap too much in a day but it’s not like I ever say, “ugh, I wish I wouldn’t have slept the day away.” I love naps.

That’s how I feel about writing, too. I write one way or another practically everyday, whether it’s for work, personal pieces, or just writing down my thoughts. I can go days without it; I simply don’t prefer it. Sometimes I can spend the whole day writing as thoughts come to me. Like naps, the day never ends with regret. Unlike naps, writing makes me think and relaxes me all at the same time.

I like writing because it drives me. Some people are driven by competition or even love. I’ve never been competitive in sport; I’m the person who’s like, “let’s just play for fun!” No one likes losing, so why make it a competition? I’m also not the type to let love drive me; it’s just not my style. But writing? Writing drives me. It even pulls me. Writing is complicated in the best way. It allows me to create, confess, and explore my thoughts in a way exclusive to writing. It gives me a purpose or even a reason to observe the world around me. It challenges me in ways I don’t always want to be challenged but work through it feeling accomplished.

Writing lets me be myself and works with me to create the best version of me. That makes it sound like I’m in a pretty serious, committed relationship with writing. I suppose that wouldn’t be wrong to say though. We’ve spent a lot of holidays and milestones together. That’s beside the point; let me digress.

I love writing because when I write, it feels as though I really did just share it in conversation. It allows me to tell people what I want to tell them without it having to be a conversation. It also allows me to have the conversations that aren’t always meant to be out loud.

Writing stumps me the same way it inspires me.