One of the many things I’d describe myself as is a writer. I wouldn’t be sitting here in front of this keyboard today if I didn’t think so. Along with this destined career comes the all so familiar question of, “Why do you write?”

Let’s put it this way: Have you ever stumbled through a conversation trying to think of the right words, the most meaningful metaphor or even the best joke that would add significance to what you were trying to say? Nothing drives me crazier than trying to sputter out the perfect sentence through my mouth. But when I’m behind a keyboard or a pen, words that are no longer my own flow out so smoothly. It’s like my fingers are talking instead of me. Like I’m speaking in cursive rather than my ordinary words. Not to mention that the backspace button and an eraser are always there to fix my mistakes, unlike the twist of my tongue.

In addition to the free-flowing words, I would say writing gives me an opportunity to release the cluttered ideas that I store in my mind. Like any writer (or any creative person at all, for that matter), my imagination takes me on an adventure of ideas that could spark multiple stories and articles. But what use would they be if I did not first write them down?

The words I write on paper are words that have been stored for a while. Maybe a day, maybe years. Writing with the intention of sharing is one of the top reasons I write. I write so people better understand my mess of a mind, gain my perspective and listen to the words that cloud my mind.

Writing is one of the only things I have hidden in the innovative side of my brain. I can only count on one hand the number of times I’ve come up with a revolutionary idea that sparked words that lasted for more than a few pages. Writing is a kind of escape route out of my brain for ideas to run wild and paste themselves on paper.

In all honesty, there are times when I can’t stand to put another word on the paper. There comes a point when laying down another paragraph just seems painful. What gets me through it all is knowing that I am given the opportunity to share pieces of myself with the world through the art of writing. I am able to express myself in a way that some won’t understand, but others will be enlightened by. Hopefully one day I’ll find myself in a place where people will read my writing and get excited and inspired to write their own work of art.

That is why I write.