** For days 4 and 5, I shared a blog post from the Archives on my Facebook Page **

Today is just a bit of a free write.
Do you ever do those?
Perhaps in a journal?

For many years, I taught at-risk high schoolers, as well as ESL.
At the start of every class period, the kids did a “free write” for 15 minutes.
Here’s the thing – I never, ever read what they wrote unless they asked me to do so. They could write about anything, they could cuss, they could draw if need be.
These journals were kept under lock and key in my classroom in order to protect their privacy, especially if they lived in home environments where these words could lead to harm.
Their grade on this consisted solely in the participation. It was very awkward at first, but by the holidays, I had very little trouble enforcing it.
We are created to create.

I am one of a million blogs out there.
I am one of a million writers.
Whereas I join the throngs of women who long to make a living at writing, I also write because I
just
cannot
help
myself.

One of my most coveted writing/journaling tools is an unlined Moleskine notebook.
I carry this thing around with me everywhere.
I use it to jot down writing ideas, to sketch, for recording important facts and dates.
For me, there is still something cathartic about pen to paper.

I have tried it in a variety of colors, but I always come back to the classic black.

After reading that the very same type of notebook was used by such artists as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Ernest Hemingway, I decided to gulp down the Kool Aid and embrace the marketing hook.

10 years later.
I have a nice Moleskine collection chronicling my life.

And that is another benefit of writing, isn’t it?
My daughters, my potential grandchildren, are not going to be embracing my Facebook feed. In fact, I am not sure I would even want them to formulate an impression of my life based on where I positioned my soapbox on any particular day.

My writing is where my heart and soul reside.
My writing is first and foremost a gift to myself, an honoring of how I am created and where my passions and DNA collide. And my hope and prayer is that I can offer it in such a way that it encourages those that take the time to read it.

I do not believe that is boastful, instead it is bestowing recognition on the Giver of All Things who created me and who desires that I live out the very person I am meant to be.

So, dear Reader.
Go.
Write.
Create.

Completely deplete all that you have to give today.

#31DaysofWriting