Why write? (Making Lists #1)

Why Write?

“I haven’t written for a few days because I wanted first of all to think about my diary.

It’s an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I – nor for that matter anyone else – will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.

Still, what does that matter?

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.” 

 Anne Frank (Diary Entry Posted Saturday, 20 June, 1942 from The Diary of a Young Girl)

Tragically, Anne Frank died three months before her sixteenth birthday, but those things once buried deep in her heart invite us to remember, to ponder, and to dig deeper into our own, discovering the magnitude of the moments that soon become our memories. Anne wrote what she thought, not what she thought she should, and “the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl” continue to matter.

Like Anne, I unwind by writing, loving the freedom to stumble across God in a way that I haven’t seen him before.  And in that discovery, I’ve come to appreciate the value of who I am. A flawed woman loved by her perfect God. And that’s miraculous. And it matters.

To me, God sometimes seems to hover out of grasp, a hopeful glimmer of possibility; by writing, I’ve discovered He’s always more real than that vague awareness. As I unveil those hidden things in my own heart, by rambling and wondering and poking around, I’ve discovered God’s omnipresence, one of his many immutable characteristics. A discovery based on my experiences, not from what I was told. And that matters.

I know there are more of us, too, who want to write but wonder, like Anne, if it matters. Who wonder if it’s an odd idea to write. Who wonder if anyone would be interested. And then once the desire is strong enough, even wonder how to start, how to begin pouring out those “things that lie buried deep” in our hearts.

Pastor Robert Stutes shared a fail-proof Bible study method recently at church:  “Just do it!” The Nike method works for Bible study, and it applies to writing, too, for writing doesn’t have to be a prosaic chronological pronouncement of the facts of our lives, which would, in fact, be tedious and not necessarily all that interesting or introspective. Mine, anyway. I haven’t had to hide from the Nazis like Anne Frank or live in fear of concentration camps. But what isn’t mundane is the delightful discoveries of the divine in the details of our lives. Epiphanies to celebrate, not simply lessons to endure. And then always there’s that lovely surprise when God reveals himself in the process of writing. And that matters, too.    

Anne Frank wondered who would possibly care about the musings of a teenage girl. We don’t wonder. Her life continues to speak to us 70 years later. And our musings are equally valuable.

Why write? I say, “Why wait?” And here are a few suggestions to help you begin:

IDEA #1 – Make LISTS, a good way to awaken a memory 

Today, make a LIST of every home you’ve lived in, then choose one of those places and write about it.   

Here’s how my LIST would go…(I’d work backwards because that’s easier for me.)

1. My home now -- our 1907 rust-colored frame house on N. Cummings Street (for 30 yrs)
2. Grey trailer house behind our historical home  (for some reason we thought we could remodel the 1907 house ourselves)
3. Old white house on highway next to beer joint (after we moved to Bellville)
4. West Belt apt Houston when first married to Ian (had a caller/stalker)
5. Parents’ two-story Moorberry house in Houston (a year before Ian and I married)
6. Apt. on Lover’s Lane in Dallas (where there was a serial rapist running around)
7. Apt. on Prestonwood Central (when I first moved to Dallas)
8. Aunt’s home in Richardson (for a month while waiting for apt.)
9. S. Gessner apt (while working in Houston after college)
10. Yikes – 1974 to 77  -- numerous apts in College Station
11. Room 106 Krueger A&M 1973 (next door to the girl who had the baby in the dorm)
12. Moorberry home again (1970 to 73 -- 3 years high school)
13. Daddy Bill’s house on Mona Lee Houston after mother married my step-father (3 months misery)
14. Big house on Austin Street in BELLVILLE (Daddy died while we were remodeling)
15. Crack-house looking apt across from Gana in Bellville (summer while I had mono and parents were working on Austin Street house)
16. Green Concordia Drive house (loved that neighborhood; kids everywhere)
17. Little white house on Hempstead Highway  (4 or 5 years old)
18. One more house in Bellville near O’Bryant Elem, but too young to remember it.

OK! That was an eye-opener for me because my written list was a lot longer than the way I pictured it. So now I’m going to pick the one place that made the strongest impression while I was jotting, and I’ll write about that place and see what pops up!

And while scribbling my thoughts, I’m not going to concern myself with making it perfect. I’m going for discovery, not perfectionism, which is not our friend when we’re free-writing.

So let’s do it! Pick one and write! Avoid trying to dictate the direction, just go with the flow and see what you discover. Write like Johnny Football plays ball, giving it all he’s got! It’ll be fun! Here we go! 

I Remember…

LISTING – a great way to begin!