From the time I was a little girl, I loved to write. Writing allows you to tell the stories of people, places, things and events. Sometimes they’re real, and sometimes they are a tapestry woven from imagination. As I kid, playing pretend was one of my favorite games. It was so much fun to make up personalities and lives for stuffed animals and dolls…and myself and my friends too. When I got older, telling myself stories was how I fought off panic attacks. If I could just get my mind to focus on something else, I would be okay. During the seven summers I spent at overnight camp, I sent stories of my adventures in the mail to friends and family. These days, the brands I connect with are often the ones telling the best stories. Storytelling has always played a role in my life somehow, as I’m sure it has in yours.
Writing gives us the ability to record history and pass it on to future generations. Not only the facts of what happened and when, but how people felt about it and how they reacted. For me, and I know many others, writing is often an easier way to express my thoughts and feelings than saying them out loud. Writing helps us share ideas, hopes and dreams. I think sometimes we take for granted our ability to write, read and understand words. These are incredible powers that we are very lucky to have, and we owe it to those who don’t have these powers to use them wisely and be grateful for them.
