There are many reasons why I write, and just as many for going almost a year without writing. With school, tutoring and building a new relationship, I ran out of time. Fun and freelancing (paid fun) just weren't priorities.
Then I met Javacia Harris Bowser. As an English teacher at ASFA, founder of See Jane Write and freelancer, she maintains a busier work schedule than I do. During our first (in-person) conversation, she mentioned, among other things, Blog Like Crazy. Since I didn't have a blog, I could sit on the sidelines and cheer the other Janes on, right?
Wrong. After three days of seeing women writers with careers, kids and goals take to the challenge, my remaining excuses for not writing vanished. I asked for help with my blog, and within a week, it was live.
The months of not writing took their toll. My first post took several hours of writing, editing and tweaking before it was passable. The second came together after some struggling, but it was stronger. By the fourth, writing no longer felt like swimming through molasses.
Now, I write to keep my voice. I write to honor my heroes and family and friends. I write to carve out a space in this world that is mine, and I write to try to capture what makes Birmingham special. I write because I don't feel obligated, and I write now so that I may write more in the future. I write because I love the process of finding the words, searching for better ones and seeing the finished product.
I may not yet know why I'll write tomorrow, but I've found that every day adds another reason to my list of reasons why.
Title from Nickel Creek's "Reasons Why."