Nicolette Varju
ENC 1101
Instructor Portnoy
13 Mar 2022
Vitality in Writing
Writing helps thoughts come alive.
In the way I grew up, I was taught to learn from body language, actions more than anything. It
mattered more than words, with two parents from two very different backgrounds growing up
in an American education system. I struggled with everyday language and stayed silent for most
of my childhood. I learned to read people from the body more than the mind, with emotions
mattering more than words and reasoning, and developed my own different type of unknown
language. Having to write for school is completely different than writing for myself, where I
have learned more about my own mind with a paper and pencil than any teacher who has
taught me nothing but how to capture a reader’s attention with a hook, something that is
natural instinct to me already. But my own, personal writing is different. It connects my
turbulent emotions to thoughts, my rhythm of thinking and intuition to logic and it has
connected my body to a mind I have never possessed before. In a way, I am always thinking, my
brain always going 200 miles per hour but not being able to place a finger on any one thought,
it’s anxiety inducing and I forget what’s important to say and what is not. Writing slows me
down and aids in remembering what I am thinking, and why it was important in the first place.
Writing connects people to each other.
There are many times where it is hard for me to cough up the right words to explain what I feel,
and I end up saying the wrong thing or it is interpreted the wrong way. If I write it down, I can
become both the author and the reader of a story. It helps me revise what I need as the author,
and being able to know exactly what to interpret as the reader. This has helped me in many
relationships with friends and family, and I can save the relationship without backing out of
what I say and say it confidently. The right words are found, and it helps people find me for who
I am and what I declare to be true rather than saying it in a way no one can interpret other than
myself. In the beginning, I could only open my mind on paper. Now after learning how to write
what I truly want to say and mean, I can speak more loudly and confidently. Writing was the
gate that opened my communication skill further than I could imagine. I can know exactly what
I’m talking about and it has maintained a healthier relationship with my friends, as well as my
family.
Writing helps develop emotion.
Personally, it is very difficult to accuse people of the actions they committed. When my
emotions are very strong, whether upset or angry, I show the same blank expression on my
face that makes it look like I’m not feeling anything. I shut down my etiquette, close off my
communication, and reserve my energy to myself which is most important to me during those
times. It becomes extremely difficult for someone to make me talk, and could stay silent for
hours because deep down, I don’t have the courage to say anything. I don’t move, don’t speak,
yet my mind is still racing. When I have the courage to at least write it down, I can explain
perfectly how I feel and why I’m upset, almost as if the true me is locked inside. Writing gives
me the key to open up, and was my only form of true communication for the longest time. It
became the key factor into why I’m not the same immature girl I used to be, and aided me into
knowing what I was feeling and why I acted the way I did. I learned more about myself and I
was able to work on it, which in turn helped me treat others the way anyone wants to be
treated. Most importantly, I learned that like nobody else, I was not perfect, and found what
underlying problems I possessed and changed for the better.
Writing influences progress over time and creates new people.
In the real world, I cannot write everything I feel to other people. The work environment as one
example is not a good place to email or text those I have a problem with. Standing my ground,
being demanding when I must be is the surest way to survive in a demanding environment, and
the way it is intended as I grow older. It is still difficult to say things in the heat of the moment,
but I’ve gotten better with my speech and can fix problems easier and faster than before.
Refusing to back down of my speech, I say what I want and what I mean easily. I still need work
and am far from my goal, but I am proud of the improvement I’ve made so that I am not taken
advantage of again. Writing helps me know my thoughts and in turn creates my place in society,
where I am respected despite my age as my maturity rises to the surface over those older and
less mature, and it is a bold statement they read over and over within themselves. I am
healthier, more assertive thanks to writing, and it makes me feel prepared enough for the real
world.
