The enjoyment of writing

     I have never considered myself very talented.  There are a lot of things that I want to be talented at, but I just can't quite get the hang of.  In high school I wanted to sing, and be a dancer.  But as I hit my adolescent years, I took up the nasty habit of smoking.  And so that talent went right out the window as soon as I picked up my first cigarette.  I also loved to draw.  I realized that although I could draw almost anything, my hand and my own imagination were not in sync enough to create original work.  The only other talent I believed that I had was writing.  As I grew older, my writing became more personal, and in most opinions of my friends and family, better.  I never went to college.  I do not have a degree in anything specific to writing.  Although sometimes I wish I did have a degree, it does not effect my ability to write.  I do not stop writing just because I didn't go to college, and neither should anyone else for that matter. 
    What a great thing, writing.  A way to express yourself through words.  For some people expressing through writing is the only way they are able to let their feelings out.  The only way they feel comfortable enough to say anything meaningful, or what they feel is worth actually saying.  And others are unbelievably talented in their writing.  They express it through poems, short stories, and lyrics for music.  I am not one of those unbelievably talented persons, but I do usually get my point across.  Very literally sometimes. 
    I have always found it easy to express my emotions and my feelings on almost anything.  I think that I often drive some people crazy with that gift.  More times than not, it does get me into trouble.  I am an outspoken person that usually has something to say about anything.   I am honest, and open about most subjects, and I find it easier to express my emotions and opinions on those subjects through writing.  Any form will do, and I could probably write about anything if I thought about it long enough.   I have been challenged a few times to write about a specific subject, and I have finished feeling satisfied and triumphant.
    Most people who love to write never give themselves any credit.  I find myself doing the same thing.  Why do we have to have an expert tell us that we are good at what we love to do?  Who cares what some people think?  I am learning that the older I get, the less I care about what everyone else thinks.  I focus on how I feel, and what moves me, and what I need to write to make myself feel better.  What words do I need to use to say exactly what I need to say?  The way that you can take a simple sentence and manipulate it into something that sounds poetic is amazing, and a lot of fun.  I love words.  I always have.  I love music, because of the lyrics.  And if a song is instrumental, I love it because the music alone can interact with the words dancing in my head.  A lot of the time I use music as an inspiration to write.  Words have so many different meanings.  There are so many possibilities with words, and so many doors can be opened up if you allow yourself to feel the flow of it all. 
    I can create almost anything with almost any kind of mood.  If I am happy, I write.  If I am angry, I write exactly how I feel at the exact moment I feel it.  If I am in love, I can tell the whole world about it.  When I am sad, I let my pencil and my thoughts take me that place that makes me feel sad.  Put a few extra big words, and phrases in there, and somehow, it becomes poetry.  How cool is that?   Some of my best work comes from the emotions that I am feeling when I sit down to write.  Sometimes a simple journal entry turns into something that I did not even expect to be considered good.  Writing is an aggressively addictive passion, and a beautiful release of life's great mysteries. 
    I want to share my poetry and my feelings with the world.  If I could reach just one person with anything that I have said or created than I have succeeded in my goal.  I do not need to be on the "Best sellers list" to be happy.  I only want to make an impact on someones life individually.  I want someone to read my work, and feel it in their soul, as I did when I wrote it.  I hope to inspire, give hope to, and feed the emotions that a person feels at the moment they need it.  Expressing the way I feel comes from a different part of my mind, body and inner thoughts.  I express myself through writing those emotions, and I am glad to be sharing it with all of you.