Writing is a crystaliser (not a word) of thoughts. It is the equivalent of capturing photos of your mind, allowing you to see your thoughts, the way you would look up at the clouds and make out their ever-changing shapes.
But you can’t expect to turn every thought into something useful, because most of it is just gibberish.
Here’s an example: pickles oranges apples cat. Random words that just passed through my caffeinated mind. Words that have no context, and no use for us in this particular moment. And yet.
That’s the thing about writing. You get to take readers on a journey through your mind. To share perspectives, like showing them photos of your child. And you never know where each thought could end up. Because I didn’t know where I’d end up going when I first typed those four words. AND YET.
Yet, those four words are teaching me new things about myself. That writing doesn’t have to be a romantic gesture that happens only when you have a two-hour block of time (I’m writing this on the bus ride to work). The words are telling me that a story does not need to adhere to a ‘blog structure’, or even have a comprehensible title. They’re saying that perhaps I should stop taking myself so seriously.
Perhaps you have the space to do the same. To stop putting off that silly idea of learning to sail. Or starting a sketchbook in the face of your doubts. Or building that sacrificial altar you’ve been planning to but just haven’t gotten around to harvesting goat blood.
All I’m saying is, perhaps you should pickles oranges apples cat.
Your Friendly Malaysian Writer 
Informative and humorous…as always, Stu. Thanks for the laugh and the clarity of pickle orange apple cat.
LikeLike
Nice to see a post from you, hope baby is doing well!
LikeLike
And nice to see you, Hetty! Always feels like a throwback every time I see your comment :D
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gotta love a good throwback
LikeLike
Where’s the love button. Cause my mom made pickled peaches every summer and you took me straight home. Now im gonna go pickle oranges apple cat. Even though that’s kind of scary.
LikeLike
Lol who knew a random selection of words could bring you back to your past. Just goes to show that we never truly know what will connect and what won’t. All we can do is keep putting out our work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Insightful post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The clarity of thought which it gives you is exactly what makes writing such a wonderful tool of learning. You think you have mastered something, and yet, when you go to write about it, you discover several gaps. In the process of filling these gaps, you make your knowledge base firm and strong, allowing you to retain your mastery over the topic for a very long time.
Thanks for the short and wonderful post, Stuart.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, writing can feel like work sometimes, which is why it’s hard to relate it to self-discovery. But I think it is one of the most useful tools humankind has ever created, purposely or not, through the exact steps you mentioned!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome. Should pickle oranges apple cat. Depends, if you want to take yourself seriously, it not only should it very well must. Loved it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lol, we should pickles oranges indeed, apple cat maybe tomorrow. But we’ll see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love it. It’s great to see sacrificial goats again! Hilarious. You’re so right. Waiting for the two hour opening to write may not always happen. The right conditions may be elusive as well. Might as well write anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have no idea how long I’ve been itching to drop that reference, and nobody in my real life knows a thing about it, lol. It’s a little inside joke we’ll share.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha! I’ve been waiting for it. 😉
LikeLike
*Totally agree
LikeLike
Good to hear from you Stu! Tot all agree with you about writing. Man I really hope to see you one day soon to share more our mutual love for the written word. Peace bro!
LikeLike
You know what. I actually was in Singapore two weeks ago, but it was just a day trip for work, so again, time wouldn’t have permitted. I still have my hopes up, though!
LikeLiked by 1 person