Thinking About Yesterday

I’m just a beginning writer.  I write a lot, to be sure, about 50 pages a week.  But most of that is stuff for the courts, and even though it’s very important -- sometimes life-changing -- there’s an element of enjoyment lacking in that kind of writing.

For enjoyment I write a personal journal, this blog, and a few poems here and there.  I’ve probably finished about a hundred poems over the last fourteen years.  So not very much.  But even though I’m not very good with a pen, I can’t leave it alone.

Writing is like running for exercise.  Running is the most popular way to exercise because it’s the cheapest and easiest.  It doesn’t require a ball, bat, hoop or goal.  It doesn’t require expensive equipment or permits, and you don’t have to go anywhere special to do it.  It doesn’t require any particular technique if you’re just doing it for fun.  And the health benefits of running are just about as good as those of any other kind of exercise.

It’s the same with writing.  It doesn’t require any unique paraphernalia, just a paper and pen, or a laptop if you have a little bit of extra money (which thankfully I do).  And if you’re just doing it for fun, without caring whether your product is good or bad, you can be free to use any words you like in any order to say anything.  That’s the beauty of writing.

I had a fun email exchange with an old friend today that made me think: Am I ever going to know anyone as well as I do those I grew up with?  There are friends that I haven’t seen in years who I comprehend just as well now as I did in the days when we were close.  Even though we communicate infrequently, I’m still able to accurately imagine their thoughts, feelings, and reactions.

And yet there are many that I have interacted with daily for the past several years and still cannot read.  I don’t get them.  And it seems like I’ve somehow lost the ability to understand new people at any level underneath the surface.  Is it because being an adult requires more formality in relationships?  Or do I just not care to get to know anyone anymore?  Or is it something else?  This is troubling to me~