Why Write?

I write because I love. I write because I don't know how to live without saying out-loud what is true for me at this moment, to clarify. I write because I don't know how to keep it all in without letting some out. I write because this beauty and pathos is so overwhelming -- it is impossible to bear, without exclaiming. I write because I need to. I write because I love words, their sound and ability to turn sound into meaning. I write because language is how we perceive this world and I have an enormous amount of words spewing and spilling about. I write because there is something inside that says, I long to reach you, to tell you how I see it, because if I don't, there is no one else who can. I write because I believe in everyone's story, even my own. I write because history is made up of each of these stories, and I claim my place at the fireside. I write, because it's easier than lugging an 8x10 foot canvas around every minute of the day. I write because it requires no one or nothing else besides me a pen and a page. I write because I have always written - lies, truth, story, memory, impossible dreams, regrets, angers, resentments, sorrows, songs, poems, thank you's, and prayers.