It matters

Jordon’s post has got me thinking about why we blog, preach, write – anything we do to communicate. Ultimately, it’s because we need to. Anne Lamott says it better than I could:

I still encourage anyone who feels compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do – the actual act of writing – turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward… Good writing is about telling the truth… Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious. When you’re conscious and writing from a place of insight and simplicity and real caring about the truth, you have the ability to throw the lights on for your reader. He or she will recognize his or her life and truth in what you say, in the pictures you have painted, and this decreases the terrible sense of isolation that we have all had too much of… The society to which we belong seems to be dying or is already dead. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but clearly the dark side is rising. Things could not have been more odd or frightening in the Middle Ages. But the tradition of artists will continue no matter what form society takes. And this is another reason to write: people need us, to mirror for them and for each other without distortion – not to look around and say, “Look at yourselves, you idiots!,” but to say, “This is who we are.” (Bird by Bird)

Writing (blogging) really does matter. The critics will come, but as Lamott says, “I really don’t think you have that kind of time.” It’s about refusing to be silenced, of telling the truth no matter how much some won’t want to hear it. So write (and blog) on.