To Write is to Live
Written in 2001 and included in the PhilWP Invitational Summer Institute I archives
by Michelle Harrison
For me, participating in this summer’s Philadelphia Writing Project has been truly therapeutic. It has brought life back into my writing, resuscitating for me the joy of writing. During this institute, I have relearned how to write for the sake of writing and not with any particular goal in mind. Now I, in the immortal words of the Nike commercial can “Just do it.” I allow my thoughts to flow freely, and as they take me where they will, I am now able to relax and enjoy the ride.
As I listened intently and often jealously to the excerpts being read from the work of various authors every morning, I secretly wished that I too could write in a way that would transport someone to an unexpected place or feeling, as they had for me. Just thinking about the power of possessing this ability excites me in a way that I can’t describe.
One challenge for me has been sharing what I write with others. As a result of this workshop I have realized that writing is a social activity.
Although one writes alone, the ideas, feedback and thoughts, questions and comments of others are essential to fulfillment of the promise of everything that is written, and it all does indeed have promise. Even the feeblest attempt can become something prolific if it is “tweaked” in the right place. Writing may be a very personal endeavor, but it can be so much more when it is shared. Through this sharing it may even inspire and spark the imagination of others.
One challenge for me has been
sharing what I write with others.
With all my new insights, still I fear what I have to say is not deep or meaningful enough, and it will be judged and dismissed as a waste of the effort it took to read. I wonder if people will read what I have written and question my purpose for even bothering to lift a pen at all, but now I know that most people share my insecurities. Knowing this is extremely comforting and gives me the courage to try. Now I can keep company with my fear and not let it overly distract me. It is a risk, but it has become one that I am willing to take.
Now when I write I worry less about what others will think and more about what I think and feel. Whether I write “the great American novel” or nothing at all, I am a writer. We all are. When we read, when we speak, and even when we think, we are writing. I wrote these very words as I was washing dishes one night in my kitchen, and I stopped to jot them down. Just this realization alone was worth what it took to get me to the workshop that first day and what it took for me to stay. It was worth it. Now I can take the risk of writing and even enjoy it. The challenge will be to help my students have their own epiphanies.
Michelle Harrison is the Assistant Principal at Kensington High School For Creative and Performing Arts. Michelle joined the Philadelphia Writing Project in 2001 as a teacher consultant. Michelle’s piece "To Live Is To Write" was originally written in 2001 and was included in PhilWP Summer Institute I archives.