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The funny thing about writers is that they like writing. Hold on; I promise this is going somewhere.
You see, writers may engage in the act of writing in order to generate an income — as in the case of professional copywriting, for example — but it’s rare to find a writer who writes professionally and who doesn’t also enjoy writing about various topics for his or her own entertainment, or as a productive hobby of sorts.
Most people can barely stomach the idea of writing anything longer than a standard Facebook post or Instagram caption. This is a shame, not just because they might find writing fun or fulfilling if they gave it an honest try, but also because there are various striking benefits to writing your thoughts out — so many, in fact, that this simple practice genuinely has the potential to change your life for the better.
Here are just a few reasons why you should make a habit of writing your thoughts out on a regular basis, whether in a journal, on a blog, or elsewhere.
Writing helps you to articulate and distill your ideas
Politics is one area where people frequently have pretty ill-defined, and ill-explored, ideas and positions. Generally, someone will have an impulsive sense of what they consider “right” or “wrong” and which issues they find the most pressing on the surface, and these impulses will drive their political alliances.
Nonetheless, politics is extremely complicated, like so much else in life. You may well have a sense of who you want to elect for Arizona SoS, but are you sure you really understand the global financial system?
Writing about complicated idea helps you to articulate and distil them. This, in turn, helps you to identify areas way you may need to do more research, or may be barking up the wrong tree altogether.
Writing helps you to vent
Storing away resentment from the various wrongs you’ve suffered in life, either from yourself or others, is one of the most self-destructive things you can do.
If left unaddressed you may well find that these private grievances leave emotional scars on your psyche that endure for years.
One solution is to talk through your memories, frustrations, and anxieties with another person, and to have arguments when they’re necessary.
Another solution is to write about your thoughts in-depth. Often, this will help you to vent, and to get a sense of perspective on what precisely has been bothering you, and how you’ll avoid the same issues in future.
Writing can be the start of a powerful discussion
There are a lot of important issues to discuss in life. Topics like how you and your partner are going to build your life together going forward, or what you want to do with your life after finishing school.
Often these discussions are never had — in large part because we never really become comfortable with addressing these topics in our minds, never mind publicly.
Writing can be the launching pad that triggers important and powerful discussions that can have a tremendous impact on the rest of your life.
