Scriptor Liberator

If you're a reader of my work, you can probably tell that I have more than just the average bit of elitism going on in. I've been possessed of a terribly elitist ethic since I was a child, probably because I first went to Catholic School and then to a private boarding school in Cheshire Connecticut. Those sorts of places breed a holier-than-thou attitude. However, I like to think I've done much in the way of distancing myself from some of that posturing.

Something I realized only recently is that I my elitist attitude still lingered when it came to the domain of writing. For a long time, I honestly felt that most people just shouldn't bother. I never understood journals or blogs: what do you get out of them? Who are you talking to? No one! Yet, after starting this blog of my own and discussing it with other people, I have come to the realization that I would continue to write it even if no one was reading it. Now, that's not an invitation to stop following me, since I would certainly become despondent and probably update less, but it remains true.

Why? Because writing sets you free. It unleashes locked and dormant ideas within yourself and allows you to grapple with them in an external way. I think everyone should write as much as possible, particularly about things that are important to them. Mankind is not homo sapien but homo scriptor; the urge to record and express is fundamental to our nature.

Perhaps this is why things like facebook and the blogosphere have taken off so rapidly and with such enthusiasm. Human beings desire an outlet to express their thoughts, plain and simple. We live in an age where, at least in the West, family sizes are at their smallest ebb. People live alone (can you imagine!) or with one or two family members. Absurdity, screams our social ancestry! Where are the crowded houses full of clan-mates, gens and tribus, where are the multi-generational homes? Gone.

But we must express our ideas somehow, and we must hear them against something other than the lonely void of an empty room. In this age when we are increasingly isolated, the internet brings us together again. We are, everyone, painting on the walls of a cave. It helps us understand ourselves and it may bring pleasure to others. The only difference is that now the cave is universal. Every human being with access to the internet can come and look at your painting of an aurochs.

What is the point of all this? I want you to write. I don't care what you write about, but I want you to do it frequently, fluidly, and with great energy. I want you to express yourselves, to learn more about yourselves, and to become better people through writing. The truth is meaningless, a construct. The truth cannot help you; it is writing that will set you free.