Why I Write.

More and more my social media pages are being flooded with tales of horror. The list of cities that are in mourning piling one on top of each other until all I see is celebrity figures ‘tweeting’ their sorrows that this has happened yet again. The obligatory ‘I’m in the public eye and my heart is tearing apart for you all’ message. One it feels like has been sent every day for the past few weeks, and all we can do is sit around and message our sympathies as the world falls apart around us. One I’ve sent myself, with tears in my eyes wondering how much more of this the world, my home, can take.

It all reminds me of why I wanted to write, why I wanted to share my stories with the world. The motto that I wrote myself one night when I needed that little reminder and a little bit of inspiration to keep going, to keep fighting despite all the obstacles that stood in my way.

Why I wanna write: I want to write to tell stories. I want to offer people a distraction from the horrors of everyday life. I want to give them hope, make them question themselves, their views and their actions. I wanna inspire people. I want to take people from their mundane lives and give them glimpses into the extraordinary. I wanna help people dream, to believe in the unbelievable. To think big and achieve bigger. #NeverForget.

And as another cop is shot. Another black man gunned down in the city he calls home, As more people face racism and hatred based on actions of a few extremists... I see the need for this more and more. The world outside of my little slice of paradise is turning to crap. Every place I think about moving to has been ravaged by pain and suffering in the past few months. Every place I think of moving has seen violence, death, and destruction. People are crying out in pain and screaming for change... and all we do is sit behind our keyboards and tweet our sympathies. Write a blog post about the outrage of it all, and how it needs to change, yet do we do anything else? Do we take any steps to stop this happening again? To protect ourselves and those we love?

So today, I want to modify that little motto.

Today; I want to write to make a difference. I want to give people hope for a world in which they aren’t afraid, where they aren’t rejected nor ruled by outdated social ‘normalities’. I want to make people question themselves, their views, and their actions. I want to inspire people to be the change that they want to see in the world. I want to show them that they can be extraordinary. That they can change the world they live in to be a world they want to live in. I want to help people dream, to believe in the unbelievable, to think big and achieve bigger. And if they fail, I want to remind them that this is not the end, that there is hope. Like a main character, you can pick up the pieces and rise from the ashes bigger and stronger than before. And when all that is done and dusted, my work won’t seem like so much as a distraction from the horrors of everyday life, but instead, a reminder that you can beat the horrors of everyday life.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to do all this yet, but I’m willing to learn. I’m ready to fail, to struggle and to fight with everything I have in me because it will be worth it. Because I will come out the other side better and stronger than I was to begin with. I will never stop trying, never stop learning, never stop growing, and I will never let myself be defeated. This is my promise, my oath and my word. Hold me to it.