The Impact Of Writing

It’s been 19 days since I started the 30 day writing challenge with Praxis. Over the last 19 days my perspective on writing has changed and I’ve found new value in it that I didn’t see before. In most of my experience with writing, I’ve always been told what to write about. Whether it was from a teacher or for my job or even for a speech, I was never really given free range on what I could write about. However, through this challenge with Praxis I have been given creative freedom with minimal guidelines. I feel like this experience has given me a new appreciation for writing and helped me find new importance in it. Today I’d like to talk about why I believe writing is important, and why you should write frequently with creative freedom.

Firstly, I expected this challenge to be much harder. I thought I was going to struggle to complete an article every day and feared that I would have trouble thinking of things to write about. Instead what I have found is that I actually look forward to writing each day, sitting down and just putting my thoughts “down on paper” has been almost therapeutic. I’ve also had little to no problem thinking of topics to write on. Sometimes my ideas are more simple, like this post, but sometimes they are interesting scientific or psychological concepts like my post on the science behind creativity. I feel like there’s a thousand different things floating around in my head that I could turn into a post that I didn’t even know were there until I started this challenge. Even beyond my initial concerns being blown out of the water, I found passion in writing about things that are important to me like my post on self confidence.

My main point here is that writing can really bring out a different kind of passion within you. When you take the time to sit down and let your thoughts flow into works on a page, it almost sucks you in and opens your eyes to how much you care about a subject. It also helps you empty your mind of little stories or areas of interest clouding your subconscious. Author of “Getting Things Done” David Allen talks about how your mind is for processing, not storage. If you have something on your mind that really intrigues you, take the time to write about it and maybe turn it into a story or an informational article. It can help clear your brain of clutter and ultimately improve memory and cognitive function.

Overall, writing can be used as an outlet for all the random thoughts floating around in your brain, as well as a way to let your creative side shine in a way that anyone can enjoy. While all these things may seem simple, the impact it can have on your life is amazing. Take the time occasionally to write about something, anything at all, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

-Braden Schmidt 11-19-2019