Connect or disconnect: that is the question

You may or may not know someone who takes time to write. While you’re in the midst of living your life, perhaps in the ‘fast lane,’ you may ask, “why would anyone stop to do that?” After all, isn’t writing mostly a solitary activity and a clear ‘disconnect’ from what you love most? Well no, not necessarily. It's true writing is typically done when you’re alone, but you can also work with others. Consider the following examples of benefits you can gain as you give something back:

1) Writing enables you to learn about you : people choose to write journals or diaries to organize thoughts, dreams, or work through perceived problems and ideas. Transcribing your own words enables you to step back and see things differently. You can brainstorm your plans and goals and move ahead too. In this way, writing can be an exercise to better understand who you are.

2) Writing permits you to share expertise and connect with others : when did you last write a piece to appear in a printed publication or on-line? Maybe never ? If I asked you about TV, you’d likely say “I watch it.” My next question would likely be, “Will watching TV assist you to share your lessons learned, connect with and help others, or increase your sales (if you’re in business)?” What lessons could you share?

3) Writing makes it possible to leave a legacy : what you write and publish will be saved somewhere, and passed on to others for their personal use. Sharing part of yourself can be timeless.  People may not remember your name as easily as they do your words or stories. You may write fiction, non-fiction of some kind of commentary. How do you wish to be remembered?

4) Writing facilitates engagement : if you have concerns and seek to engage other people in a cause or raise their awareness of specific issues, you could always get up on a soap box in a park or along the street and speak your mind. Writing is another way to effectively reach out to people. What reasons compel you to want to capture the attention or interest of others? What kinds of situations or emotions you wish them to better understand? 

5) Writing is an opportunity to earn respect : although its unlikely you will become everyone’s friend, as you take steps to express your opinion and ideas, this can assist you to earn respect. If your visions are creative, thought-provoking or inspirational, this will evoke the desire in readers to reconnect with you and read your work again.  You can't control how people react to you, but you can decide to offer them something which may give them reason to react, period. 

6) Writing bridges personal and work relationships: whether you're in an office setting working in a team, considering how to connect with someone or to express appreciation, its clear that writing can be a means to develop relationships. Whether you collaborate on a business report, draft love letters or other types of correspondence, its reasonable to assume words will help.  Resist the temptation to think you don't know what to say.  The point is word choices are yours.