Why Continue to Write

I write this because there is a woman called Priya out there in the blogosphere who writes:

“I feel sometimes that my creativity is diminishing,
I see new people, with their talent,
their immerse engrossing talent,
and I am mesmerised,
but a little scared;
too.”

Along came another blogger (VN) saying she had imposter syndrome. Since I respect the other blogger a whole lot, I looked up imposter syndrome to see the meaning, which is this:

“Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds, and do not deserve all they have achieved. Individuals with impostorism incorrectly attribute their success to luck, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent than they perceive themselves to be. While early research focused on the prevalence among high-achieving women, impostor syndrome has been recognized to affect both men and women equally.”

I am sure everyone remembers the Olympic race in 2016 in Rio where Nikki Hamblin and US runner Abbey D’Agostino we’re running, if not here is a link. One fell and the other helped the one who fell up; the other then fell and the one who previously fell helped the fallen one up, so they both could finish the race albeit in last place.

Now we all are not in an Olympic running race but in a race with words, a race to sharpen our skills, a race to gain a mastery of words and thoughts, a race to become proficient at our craft.

Now occasionally we fall. Some syndrome gets a hold of us and we go face first to the ground. But I know besides running to our personal finish lines we are here to help each other.

There is no other voice in the world like Priya. I took a DNA test recently and even though I found an extremely close match existing in a different part of the world my dna still singles me out as me. How many people, falsely accused, have been let out of jail because of dna evidence exonerating them(or vice-versa). Their dna is unique to them.

So with Priya. I can tell Priya’s writing because it is unique to her, and it uniquely affects my being as I read it. No other writing affects me in the same exact way as Priya’s writing affects me.

Everyone I am sure is familiar with this passage from John Donne:

“No man is an island,

Entire of itself,

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thy friend’s

Or of thine own were:

Any man’s death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind,

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.”

So I continue to write not only to improve my skills, and that is a good reason in itself, but because my voice is unique, if not for all, for some, and maybe just one. Priya’s voice is unique. If I don’t hear it I will be diminished.

I find the WordPress environment the best I have encountered so far. There is more honest and helpful people than I have encountered anywhere.

Let’s all help each other reach the finish line.