The importance of writing

Without realising it, writing has always been a large part of my life. It’s only recently that I put the dots together and realised this. As a child I always loved writing and when at school I wanted to be a journalist for a magazine. English Literature and language was my best subject and I studied literature at A Level. I was a huge reader (still am!) and initially intended on studying journalism at university. I have no idea what changed my career path.

As a teacher, writing plays a huge part in my day to day job and blogging enabled me to reconnect with subjects that I feel passionate out.

Writing was always an outlet for me. I didn’t keep a journal as a teenager – I felt too constrained by the format and pressure to write everyday – but I did keep a notebook that I wrote in as and when I felt the need to. When clearing out my office, before moving to Dubai, I found the notebook! And cringed like crazy at the ‘big issues’ I thought I was going through at 15! Needless to say, maybe as an act of therapy, I threw the book away!

The sentimental person would be shocked at this. But for me, writing isn’t about writing to keep the thoughts, feelings and emotions; it’s an outlet. For me, once it’s written down, it’s solved. It’s gone. And that’s why I write. I write to work through an issue. To process the thoughts on paper (or keyboard!). To collect the ideas and then move on. Because as son as I do this I feel better. Pretty much every time!

Journal from @taqdeerlife

And it’s something that I always recommend to others who are struggling with an issue; write about it! You don’t have to ever read it again. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It could be notes, it could be full sentences, paragraphs, pages even! But for me, there’s something in the thoughts going from heart, to brain, to fingertips, to paper.

It gives you time to think, to reflect and to plan. For me, I write as I think. I don’t edit. But that’s just my style. For others they might find it useful to write a bit and then come back to it, allowing their subconscious to work on the problem. But it’s an act of therapy; it makes you stop and think. Dedicate time to a specific problem or idea. A time to pause, be thankful for what you have, to ask for help to figure something out. Because in such a fast paced, busy world, when was the last time you stopped and worked on yourself? When was the last time you spent just 10 minutes thinking through a problem?

There’s strength in solving a problem by yourself. There’s strength in being thankful. And whilst it might not be feasible to try and do this everyday, start with once a week – start a blog too! However you do it, published or private, try writing about it and see if it helps. Because it definitely can’t hurt to try!

Modestlywrapped x