Why You Should Write

Everything started as a challenge, to be more precise, just for fun. I started writing things online a year before, on October 14, which is also my birthday. I really enjoyed it, but most of the time, writing daily felt like a burden. Stepping out of my comfort zone wasn’t easy, I told myself.

But over time, writing has become a significant part of my life and has helped me through many tough times. So, why should you write?

To Know Yourself Better

How much do you know about yourself? Can you scale it between 1 and 10? Mine is a 7.

If you can’t figure it out, no worries. But you should start worrying if you’re still lenient about this thought. In these modern times, we are so obsessed with stalking others’ profiles and learning about them. But what about ourselves? Do you even care about yourself?

A year ago, even I couldn’t answer that question, but when I started writing, I realized something hard: I didn’t know anything about myself. Before this, I never even knew self-realization existed.

What’s my goal? Do I really have one?

Writing helped me. When I ran out of topics, I tended to write about my past life and even my present, mostly like online journaling. When I write about my life, I have to think about it. The more I think, the more I realize things. Eventually, these realizations come out as a blog post that day. Even though no one reads it, I love it.

Self-satisfaction indeed. Writing taught me this.

An Organized Mindset

Earlier, I asked how much you know about yourself. Now, do you know what you want in life? What’s next? Or is your day messed up from sunrise to sunset?

I don’t want to present writing as a cure for everything, but since we spend most of our time on gadgets and such, we really need something to get us away from all sorts of intrusions, at least at some point in our day. Something that puts you in place—not sleep. Somewhere you can present your ideas and feelings without fear of judgment.

Writing helped me understand what I want and don’t want in life. Then, it was shocking to realize that I had been doing things that weren’t necessary for me. I had been doing things because I felt I needed to, due to some kind of pressure or necessity for survival. Of course, certain things are necessary, but looking back, it was clear I never did something because I genuinely wanted to.

After writing every day, my thoughts became organized, and I started to figure out what I want to do in life. Everything became clearer, especially when writing every single day helped me get things done that particular day.

I saw clarity in myself, something I hadn’t seen for a long time.

It’s All About Creating

I wrote a blog not very long ago about fixing the balance between creation and consumption. This topic fell under a technical blog. The idea is simple: you should create things as much as you consume.

Writing is one medium that can help you achieve this. We are often boggled with so many thoughts and ideas in our daily lives, and most of the time, we don’t have a place to express them. We dump them within ourselves.

By writing, you give space to your creativity, and the things you’ve learned and are still learning come to life. When I write about a topic, for instance, machine learning, I write in such a way that I’m explaining it to someone. Remember what Albert Einstein said?

“If you can’t explain it to your grandmother, you don’t understand it well enough.”

I’m not sure whether your grandma is up for machine learning or physics, but here’s the deal: writing is your grandma (at least metaphorically). When you write about things and explain them in layman’s terms, then publish them on the internet, many people will read that. Those thoughts and learnings aren’t just sleeping inside your head anymore.

I have written 206 blogs so far—10% of them are good, 20% are readable, and the rest 70% are, well, not so great. Even I don’t read them. But the deal is to write every day, and I did it. At times, good stuff shows up, and most of the time, it doesn’t. That’s totally fine.

Writing as a Tool for Mental Health

If you are battling depression and loneliness, you should write. I’ve been there. After my breakup, I was left all alone, and I was more depressed about the fact that I couldn’t do my daily activities. Somehow, I had to find a way to channel these negative thoughts somewhere and replace them with positive ones. That was indeed the main reason I started to write again.

In this blog, I shared the reasons why I started to write and how you can too. For different people, the reasons and circumstances might differ, but the core idea is the same.

Writing can become an important tool in your life. You never know, but it can help you through many things—from battling depression to making yourself more creative. It’s like a tool, and it’s totally up to you how you use it to get the most out of yourself.

Currently, I am on a writing challenge where I will be writing a blog every day for a year. If you want to take part, leave your thoughts in the comments. Also, make sure to check this blog out.

Until then, Keep Creating.