Writing is Mot Innate, but it Can Feel as Much

There is this concept in psychologyfor which we understand things better when they don't work.

In the case of psychology, it's easier to know what to look for in the brain after damage. For example, we know where in the brain we store memories thanks to views on the brains of people with amnesia…and so on.

Ok I know, I know, it isn't the most exhaustive of explanations, is it? Still, it may be helpful to explain what's going on with me lately.

Writer's block they call it.However, I'm not sure it's exactly what I'm experiencing, because honestly, it may have more to do with the fact that I have been having other things to think of (uni, family, and money).

But let's assume it is, let's call it writer's block and go on a little digression trip.

What do I write for?

Not so long ago, I was asked to write about what we write for. Or who. Now, the who is easy to answer, as I write, like many, for myself. And I like a lot of commas, apparently.

What for? Why? Because it feels innate like speaking. Like thinking.

Strange to think that for most of our time on Earth as a species (humans), many of us could not write, nor read. Surely, that still is the case nowadays, at times, and I wonder if despite loving the intrinsic art of pen to paper itself, the passion is more that of storytelling.

Maybe I would have been a bard, singing the adventures of Achilles, or Antigone.

Maybe.

However, maybe it's not just that. As I write for myself, I also write for my own ambition. The eternal and self-serving desire to be great at something, for a purpose, to express my inside…but also, sometimes, simply to be known.

A type of eternal life, in hope of surviving all of this. In hopes of my name being marked somewhere forever. And through my words, never die.

Then again , I like to believe that I would write even if no one was reading anything of mine. I can't be sure, but I have to think I would. And I like to think that if I couldn't, I would be a bard.

The Block

So, we understand things better when they go wrong. And lately, I have been a bit deprived of creativity, or cognitive energy.

Now, followinf the aforementioned logic, I understand writing a bit more. Or just understand how important it is for me.

Let me take you to Memory Lane.

At 12 years old, I tried writing my first book. It was called "Talos". A couple of years later I tried writing the story of the adventure of a vampire teenage girl, but that year Twilight came out, and got me a bit over vampires…

At 19 I started writing a sci-fi dystopian novel about a factory that pretended to produce clouds. Long story short, 10 years after (exactly, as I am now in the blooming of my 29s), only one chapter has been written.

Poems, aplenty. Especially after 2017 when I started writing them in English.

Writing has been an inconstant constant for me. And I love that.

Now, what to do?

Maybe, I'll just wait.

It doesn’t matter if no one gives you credit for your art. You do it anyway! Because: firstly, you never know…it may be your legacy one day; secondly, who gives a shit, art will make you feel better anyway.

Open a Pinterest account and make your mood boards your art, or just find stuff to copy. Buy one of those “paint by letters” canvas. Write shit poetry. Invent a new meal, start a collection of toys, or start woodworking, sewing, dancing alone at home, making movies with your phone, singing on some karaoke app. Whatever it is. Live in art, please.

And I'll write.