Writing with a Purpose

 The other day, Itook one of my writing journals to a grandchild's soccer game so I could do some journallingwhile I waited for the game to begin.

Theonly person in the stands near me was a woman... who all of a sudden said,"Hey, look!" as she pulled a copy of the exact same journal out ofher handbag.

Whatare the chances? And how cool is that?

"You'vemet your journal twin," she said to me.

Weboth smiled.

Some spiritualpeople that I know tell me there's no such thing as coincidence, that things happenfor a reason. So I wondered why this unusual event occurred. 

It didn't take long for me to figure it out.

Iwrite in a journal to help process my thoughts and emotions. I would have shared most of those with myhusband when he was still alive, but he died eight years ago from cancer, so I havebeen figuring out a new way of life since then - one that involves a lot more time alone. Writing helps me release the ideas and emotions - of all varieties - that well up inside me. Once I've put them on paper - writing them out by hand versus typing them - my soul feels lighter. More at peace.

I'vereminded myself, in this past year especially, that I write because that'swhat I need to do. It's my calling on this earth. It's one of the things that makes me happy and brings value to my days and nights. 

I enjoy writing about others and their fascinating lives and accomplishments. As a retired journalist  as well as a book publisher, editor, and author, I enjoy sharing true stories and documenting them for historical purposes and for entertainment too.

Coming back to writing in my journal at the soccer game, I thought about where I got this particular pink journal. At first, I thought perhaps it was given to me by a dear friend or family member who knows about my need to write down my thoughts to release them from my mind. Then Iremembered that I bought this journal at a discount store because of the words on its front cover.

So, in this new year, I feellike this moment of meeting my "journal twin" was a reminder of how Ishould proceed in 2024 in this different, new life of mine: Act, Show, Prove (although when I glanced atthe journal cover just now, I thought it said Love instead of Prove, and that'sgood too).

I'm reminded also that words are important, and I'm grateful to have been gifted with the ability to use them in my personal life and my profession. 

As Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad said, “My task...is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is, before all, to make you see. That - and no more - and it is everything.”