Talk to me...I'm your Mother

Travel Connections

I have difficulty writing when I can’t reach the Internet. After all, is it really happening if I can’t post it? Is it real if I can’t share it? Did I really live it if I can’t communicate it?

Social media makes traveling alone a pleasure (or certainly tolerable). Whatever I see or do, I can share it with you, my friends and family. As I am experiencing it, I am composing what I will write to accompany my photos. My entire day is a narrative that will pour onto the page.

I only feel lonely when I am electronically removed. I curse the Internet when it doesn’t work. It has seduced me into believing that I am not alone when I am half-a-world away and so I respond like an indignant virgin when it arbitrarily cuts me off. How dare it remind me that I am not with anyone, that I am truly solo?

A sad result is a feeling of isolation that dries up my creative juices. My written word doesn’t want to fall into a void.

This raises many questions. After all, part of the reason I go into retreat is to create an atmosphere of freedom to write. The solitude allows me to deeply ponder thoughts that fly away in my normal life. So I ask the main question: why do I write if not for myself?

After two weeks of mulling it over, I have an answer: I write for my family and friends. You are the ones who give me the love and security necessary to leave the coziness of my own home and venture into retreats and adventures.

Without you I might never write.

xxoo

8 comments

  1. I can relate. My recent trip down South has opened my eyes to the possibility of going off alone again into a retreat for at least a few weeks to be just alone and read and write. Perhaps later this year, I shall experiment.

    Like

    Reply

  2. I recently had a conversation with Peter an he said that he couldn’t understand how people can really enjoy their travels when they take pictures and post about it all the time. I’m different, I like take pictures and also like to share with family and friends. Probably people function differently here, and you have to find out what works best for you. (?) I believe that being received by others is an important aspect of artistic or creative activities, let it be writing, photography, composing, or something else. There’s even a theory (by the linguist Umberto Eco, I think) saying that the artwork is only completed in its reception by others.

    Like

    Reply

  3. Many years ago, after I’d sold only a few short articles and stories, a friend suggested I give up writing and find something else. She said, “Why do you write? Don’t over think this. Just tell me.” I didn’t over think it. I shrugged and answered immediately, “I write because I can’t not write.” And it was the truth. Then and now.
    I don’t have to write constantly or about everything, but when an idea wiggles in my mind, I have to write.
    We all have our reasons–often numerous reasons that change without warning–but whatever the reason, we write.

    Like

    Reply

Agree? Disagree? Have your say...