Why I (Must) Write

If you go look around this blog, you will find that I have not written in a while. That makes this post even more important. This post exists to remind myself why I must continue writing. It does not have to be perfect, I don’t have to sound poetic at all times. But it must be done. Finally, before I go into the details of the Why in the title, I just want to point out that when I say write, what I actually mean is to document.

The Kinds of Writing #

Disclaimer: All of this is specific to me. Or maybe others who find themselves in a similar boat. But this blog was always meant for me and not really shared anywhere anyway.

I am in the profession of acquiring and building knowledge. I do it for myself and for others. In more conventional and well-known sense, it is being a researcher or an academic. Without going on a philosophical tangent and a discussion on my own thoughts on how a researcher should do things, I want to remain on-topic and only talk about why it is important for me to document what I do, what I see, what I find interesting and, what I might look into in the future.

But that is just my profession, and my desire and conviction to continue writing is not limited to that. I am not just my profession, I am not just my hobbies, I am not just what I like doing. As any other human does, I live this life given to me, and in that process I acquire new experiences both nice and some not so nice. Lately, I have felt that they must be documented (for my own sake).

This is not a diary #

Or maybe it is. The semantics do not matter to me. I will focus on why documenting those experiences is important for me.

There is this thing which has bugged me a lot about myself. I feel I can’t remember a lot of past moments from my life. I do not think I necessarily have a bad memory, but my incompetence at recalling common experiences that others can so easily feels astonishing to me sometimes. Why do I not remember those experiences?

This is not a sudden realization by any means. I am not sure how late I am to finally do something about it, though. In any case, it’s better late than never. Recently, I have developed a theory on why do I have this problem as well. Most people are talkative. Most people like to share things among their friends. I think if you are readily talking about your experiences to others enthusiastically (for the layperson, this activity is called socializing), you are more likely to retain them. I am not saying I am not talkative (I think I maybe selectively talkative depending on the topic and person) and neither I am saying I lack friends (though I possess a relatively small set). But I think I believe I do not do those things enough.

Being a storyteller #

If I can’t remember things, I cannot socialize well (read I do not have stories to tell about myself). If I cannot socialize well, I do not have enough opportunities to learn the art of recalling experiences from my life. This is a bad negative feedback loop. However, if I just start writing about my experiences here, this can be solved.

Maybe I really have some condition which makes my memory bad. But if I keep writing, I at least would still have something that I can revisit and read again. And probably laugh at it. That sums up the personal side of things, but the professional side is no different. In fact, my memory for it is quite good (if I have taken an interest in the field). The reasons to write here are similar. Just document what you see and are trying to learn. Teaching is, in many ways, just socializing. You need to tell about your experiences with the nature to your students. You need to be a good storyteller to be charismatic at conferences. If I do not write, I can’t be a good academic, I can’t be a good researcher, I can’t be good human.

If I do not write I can’t be a good storyteller. But I want to tell stories.