I was tagged for this post by Amelia Quint of The Midheaven back in September. Why do I write? Read on.
When I was around ten years old, I wrote my very first book, “The Helping Hands Club”, that was a blatant rip-off of the Babysitters’ Club series by Ann M. Martin, which I was obsessed with. I was told (by my mother, I think) that I was slow to read and write developmentally… that I started later than what was considered normal. Apparently I made up for that time, going from slow start to aspirations of literary genius (or plagiarism) by the tender age of ten!
Writing after that became a defining characteristic of who I was (and still am). Reading was as well, as my mother often says that during any kinds of gatherings I would find the nearest corner and sit down with a book and remain quiet for hours. I would also fill up diary after diary with oh so important thoughts like which boys I thought were cute and wondering if the concept of a soulmate was really possible. I also poured my heart out into these diaries that become journals as I grew older (little girls kept diaries, adults kept journals, I reasoned… for some reason, the distinction was important to me). My trials and tribulations became another “Dear Diary” entry, and even the fad of electronic diaries/organizers didn’t keep me from pen and paper for long. Soon enough my boy-crazy, woe is me, giggly self gave way to observational entries (my Harriet the Spy phase), which then gave way to more introspective ones.
What am I working on?
Currently I’m working on streamlining my writing process in such a way that I can provide consistent updates. Weekly blog posts, bi-monthly newsletters, and monthly articles at Through a Tarot Lens on witchesandpagans.com.
Articles to come are:
• Tarot Reading Aftercare: What to do after your reading (from both sides of the table)
• Book review and sample spread from Sasha Graham’s 365 Tarot Spreads
• Book review of Andy Matzner’s The Tarot Activity Book
• Messages for sitter and reader: the double entendre of reading for yourself WHILE reading for others
If there’s any way to be both consistent and fluid in my writing, I’m doing that! I want to have both scheduled articles AND the room to post something quickly as the spirit or muse guides me. There have been so many lessons I’ve been learning from clients lately. It has become fairly commonplace that all of the readings I have in a given week have the same underlying theme going, and I want to address that through writing as well: noting which themes come through each week, and passing that message along to blog readers.
How does my writing differ from others in its genre?
I’m really not sure how it differs from others, besides clear voice. I have really never understood people that have trouble with “finding their writing voice”, because it is something that I never had to struggle with. I can’t relate, and I really don’t know if that kind of skill can be taught. Some people “find their voice” in other venues, such as painters, dancers, or through other artistic endeavors. My conduit has always been through the written word.
Ultimately my intention for my writing is to be practical, accessible, educational, and inspiring. People may not be able to write the way that I do (and I don’t want them to; it’s inauthentic!), but they can certainly find other ways of expressing themselves, whether it is through writing or otherwise.
Why do I write?
I noticed yesterday when I was interacting with my mother and sister that I was in the middle of telling a story to them verbally, and I got interrupted. After the interruption, there was no circling back to what I was talking about, or even an interest in them hearing the rest of what I had to say. It honestly made me really mad, and so I went silent and walked away. I started thinking about that in the context of this article. Why do I write? Because sometimes there is simply no other way for me to be heard. Sometimes I can only express my thoughts and feelings about a situation in writing. Writing is MY medium… my soul speaks through writing in a way that my stupid mouth can’t formulate verbally.
Originally my writing set me apart as different from other people. It become an identifier of who I was as a person. I’ll probably never be able to define who I am in words, but if I was asked who I was, I would probably give a list of books that changed my life, or use quotes from other people that I felt better explained who I was than I ever could.
On that note, I’d like to close with a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. Take this quote, and insert whatever you think your passion is in place of “writing”: is it still true? Then go to it with your whole heart.
“There is only one way: Go within. Search for the cause, find the impetus that bids you write. Put it to this test: Does it stretch out its roots in the deepest place of your heart? Can you avow that you would die if you were forbidden to write? Above all, in the most silent hour of your night, ask yourself this: Must I write? Dig deep into yourself for a true answer. And if it should ring its assent, if you can confidently meet this serious question with a simple, ‘I must,’ then build your life upon it. It has become your necessity. Your life, in even the most mundane and least significant hour, must become a sign, a testimony to this urge.”
I’d like to tag:
• Courtney Weber
• Jaymi “Innowen” Elford
• Noelle V. Dor
Blessings,
~*~Hilary~*~
www.tarotbyhilary.com
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