Why Write? It’s Like Everest! – Because It’s There

by Joan L. Cannon

I write because I can’t help it. A better question would be why can’t I help it?

First, I need to find out what I know; second, I need to discover what I don’t know; third, I need to note what I must not forget.  I’m an indifferent amateur painter, and the other visual arts are beyond my talents altogether; I can’t perform music. I find I can put words on paper. They can do for me what nothing else can.

Since I have a poor memory and perhaps a little too much emotion, the act of writing helps to suggest the perspective I need to cope with what is happening or what has happened to me, and to suggest how one experience might be useful to others.  Utility is not all there is to that.  Love for rhythm and cadence and image-making, and the opportunity to cause a chuckle and the frisson of recognition are involved.

Read the rest of Joan’s essay:  http://www.seniorwomen.com/news/index.php/why-write-like-everest-because-there