This is why I write.
I love it.
I love to spill my inside thoughts onto paper. Everything I write exposes a bit of my soul – a bit of my inside thoughts.
I also love to tell stories. Not stories as in lies, but you know. I was always the kid at the dinner table who recounted EVERY CRITICAL DETAIL of my day in exact order so I could add suspense to the ever-captivating tale of How I passed my math test. In many ways I’m still that kid on the phone with my husband. I can’t help it. For me, telling stories is innate.
As I grew, stories weren’t only found in the very real events happening around me. Participating in our local library’s summer reading challenge showed me that the stories in books came from somewhere. More importantly, the stories came from someone. It was a huge moment in my life when I realized I can make stories up. (WIN. Libraries are awesome.)
Then I read a book that changed my life. The Bible. No, just kidding. I mean really, that’s the best book and yes it changed my life. But the book I’m talking about is different. This book encouraged me to think beyond my world and create an entirely different one inside my head where I could free the characters that lived only inside of me. Julie Andrews Edwards, thank you. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles was a game changer for little Hay. I can’t remember exactly when I read it, probably somewhere around second grade, but that book opened up my mind to an entirely new option for learning. I didn’t just have to be good at math or science or spelling. I could also be good at imagining.
The more I observed the world around me, the more I was encouraged to use my imagination. It wasn’t until I read The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles that using my imagination became a skill. I took advantage of every imagination game, story time, acting time, or any other crazy adventure I happened to be around because I saw it as practice for something that was quickly becoming my favorite ability – the ability to imagine.
And that, my friends, is why I write. Because more important than how high I scored on the ACT/SAT/PCAT/NAPLEX, more important than the PharmD after my name, more important than whatever grades I made in school or what I accomplished compared to my peers (ICK! Stop comparing people’s brains, society!), more important than anything else I have ever learned in any classroom is the lesson Julie Andrews Edwards taught me about the power of imagination. A big part of maintaining sanity with an active imagination is releasing thoughts onto paper.
I want kids/teens/adults/everyone to see and feel the power of tapping into the imagination.
I’d like to share the power that Julie gave me.
I want kids/teens/adults/everyone to see and feel the power of tapping into the imagination.
I’d like to share the power that Julie gave me.
This is why I write.