Why Writing Saved My Life

It's my hero.

A chill ran down my spine.

My body began to tremble. Tears melted down my face. I had no idea what was happening to me.

I sat in my basement writing a Quora answer on my phone. I had no idea what my passion was during that time. I thought it wasn’t in the cards to be a writer. But something in my soul prompted me to revisit it.

I was ready to decide my passion after years of trying different things.

One thought ran through my mind as I wrote that Quora answer:

“What if someone cut off my hands right now? How would I feel if I could never write again?”

I didn’t even want to think about it. Not then. Not now.

That’s when I knew I found my intended path — writing.

Writing Always Gave Me a Place to Dump My Stress

It didn’t matter what emotion I felt at the time. I’d write about any and everything. I’d write so much in elementary school that kids would come up to me astonished that I wrote so much during essay times.

I’ve always been an introvert.

I hate speaking aloud. Chances are I’d say something dumb. I’d get embarrassed every time I didn’t articulate myself correctly.

Things always sounded WAY better in my mind.

So I wrote everything down. I kept a few journals. I scribbled whatever random thought popped into my mind. It lowered my anxiety. It gave me a little therapist to tell my deepest darkest secrets to.

I didn’t feel alone anymore.

Even now, I have tons of projects, activities, homework, etc, that stress me to no end. Heck, I don’t know how I will get through the week. But I have a sense of solitude knowing that I wrote about my feelings instead of bottling everything up.

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Writing Gave Me a Place to Call Home

I’m going to get a little corny here.

I have no idea what I’d be doing if I never found Medium. People give that platform shit all of the time. Some people hold valid criticism and sometimes I have my gripes with it too, but I rarely have any problems with it.

Why?

It gave me a place to call home. Across my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook profiles, I have a whopping twenty followers altogether. Those platforms are toxic to me. I just get on them to be nosy.

Writing platforms aren’t nearly as toxic as those. I feel like there’s an unwritten code of ethics for writers. Every platform has toxic people, but most people on Medium or Substack are readers or writers. No one has time to argue back and forth forever.

Not only have I gained an amazing writing community, but I’ve gained some loving readers along the way. That’s crazy to me.

I never thought I’d grow to even 100 followers on any social media platform, let alone the number I have now (on Medium and Substack). The best part?

This doesn’t feel like work to me.

I’m happy with what I write. I’m always trying to improve my craft. People leave insightful comments on my work. I got a few head nods from crazy successful writers (which is mindblowing to me).

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Writing Made Me Understand The Importance of The Little Things in Life

Right now, I don’t care about money.

I don’t want to push this narrative of whether or not people should care if they make enough money for their writing — the argument is pointless to me. People can care and people can not care.

I might care a few days from now. I might care tomorrow. I might’ve cared last week.

As of right now, I don’t care. Why? I’m writing. I’m in the middle of something, man. I’m working over here.

Thinking about money all of the time ruins my writing process. It prompts my brain to go into survival mode. It makes me less creative and more hellbent on writing for the sake of getting a viral post.

Nah…I’d rather keep my passion for writing alive.

Writing has done so much for me that making it all about the money is a slap in the face to it. Thank god writing has taught me patience too.

I’m making money from writing while enjoying the process.

That’s all that matters.

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Final Thought

Thank you so much, writing.

You’ve given me so many tools that I’ll never forget. You’ve been a friend and mentor to me in ways I’ll never know. You’ve given me the courage to put myself out there amidst being the timidest person in the room. You’ve given me a strong writing community to call home. You’ve given me access to wonderful faces who enjoy my work.

And most of all, you’ve given me happiness.

Thank you.

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