Gratitude To Fellow Writers

This is a post dedicated to my fellow writers – to the ones who have left a mark, an imprint, a lasting impact. This is for the writers who have inspired me to reread their words on the page three times over, and who have made me think and think some more. Any piece that sparks introspection is worthwhile. Any piece that forces me to reflect upon various truths, even sad truths, warrants appreciation. Sure, what they have to say may be unnerving and emotional and heartbreaking, but that doesn’t make it any less real. Or any less human.

And whenever I happen to identify with certain novels, articles, or narratives, I know that the writer has indeed struck a nerve – not just with me, but with other readers as well. They hit a spot that resonated; they satisfied a raw hunger, a starvation that’s been in place for days or months or years. We yearn to devour new material and sequels to these stories. We pine for additional words.

After all, maybe what appears to be specific to our own lives and our particular experiences isn’t as specific as we may speculate. Maybe, in actuality, it’s universal. Authors utilize a platform to reach a wide audience, and to say ‘this is me; you might find similarities, or you might find differences, but I wanted to translate these sentiments into a print medium, in the hopes that it will leave an impression, some way, somehow.’ While I don’t adhere to the notion that we are what we do for a living, for a profession, I do believe that writers absolutely share who they are as individuals. Vulnerability seeps through the lines, but that’s okay. An open heart invites connection.

This is a thank you to the writers who have displayed the utmost courage in publishing essays that are greatly personal. This is a token of gratitude for giving us those heavy, intimate portraits. I admire that brand of boldness, even if it’s not within me to wholeheartedly expense. And Thought Catalog has contributors, current and former contributors, who I love to read time and time again: Violet Young, Heidi Liu, Gaby Dunn, and Stephanie Georgopulos, just to name a few. (There are others too, of course, which is why I strongly gravitated towards the site.) They’re brilliant and brave, and when I read their sentences, their writing connects my life to theirs, and me to them.

Some may perceive writing to be a mysterious craft. It’s not exactly a traditional mode of employment, where being situated in a cubicle from 9 to 5 in a prestigious office building is the norm. And it doesn’t necessarily dole out a high source of income, if payment is even established at all. Yet, this is what we want, and this is the work that makes sense for us. What we lack in lots of dollars, we make up for in inherent gratification and fulfillment.

This is a thank you to my fellow writers who have made a difference. You all have left a mark, an imprint, a lasting impact.