Writing

I find it liberating to write without an audience. I always write for an audience - a family member, a friend, a group of friends, a prospective employer, stakeholders , the public. A government official. A coworker. A client. An email trying to pitch our services. A proposal that will likely get us no where. A memo that will update people on a specific topic. An email that I spend 30 minutes on trying to get the right tone, that one person will inevitably feel is passive agressive, or not to the point, or that I will worry about and reread over an over again.

Writing to no one, about what is on my mind, instead of tailoring it to someone else's need, is therapeutic. I'm a bit self involved, but I like to explore ideas, too. I get stuck writing other things. I admire investigative news journalists. They need to come up with a story, and put together the pieces themselves. Most journalists follow the news around. Investigative news journalists, rather, make the news.

I have so many people to talk to about so many things, but it's never as cohesive as I'd like. I'd rather just write it down and get it over with.