“A lock on the door means the power
to think for oneself.” Solitude is not
always a key component in writing, but I would agree that the best writing
usually does come from a room of one’s own.
Currently, there is a lawn mower going past the door every couple of
minutes as well as clinking dishes and running water in the next room
over. The couch in my living room is
certainly not a locked room that would be so ideal for writing. However, a school assignment is also not
always the sort of soul-searching writing that one may be expected to do on
their own. Of course, there is still the
(hopeful) chance that something intelligent will be said anyway. So, as of this point forward, I will be
working from my own room with the door closed.
Writing is an incredibly thoughtful
endeavor. Original words come from deep
within thought, a sometimes dangerous venture.
Ideas exist within the mind but also develop from surroundings. As Woolf ponders in her essay, plenty of
great poets and novelists were probably out there before the conveniences that
we have today, but were simply uneducated or not listened to, and their
brilliance was therefor never shared with the world. One certainly has to wonder how many
overlooked Jane Austen’s and “Shakespeare’s sisters” we’ve given up in history.
Today, of course, there are plenty
of voices that don’t always reach the well-known circles. Sometimes that’s the beauty of having your
own room for thought. A locked door may
be locked for a reason. Thoughts that go
on to paper don’t always have to go there to be read by others. Some people write for themselves, or for
small groups. Sometimes genius spills out poetically but is never intended to
be published because the owner of the thoughts becomes possessive and decides
to treasure them and ponder them rather than posing the potential to the rest
of the world. The ownership of one’s own
words can be all the satisfaction that is needed. Other times, however, one may give up
ownership for the sake of getting their works out into the world. With various “anonymous” authors and
pseudonyms that have been fashioned so that the author is more likely to be
taken seriously, sometimes the writers care about the thriving of the writing
more than they care about the connection to it.
The power of the connection between
thought and writing is probably one of the most complex and intimate that there
is. Writing is formulated, yet it is
unique. It is edited, yet it is
genuine. When thoughts are expressed,
new ideas form around them and grow. The
lock on the door grants the power to think, and thinking allows for expression. A person alone with their thoughts is a world
of opportunities and possibilities. A
writer alone is even more.
Hopefully, the writers of today will
have all the abilities to share the things that they want to share as well as
the opportunity to write all that they want for themselves. Hopefully each writer can find the room of their
choosing and will be able to think.
Fishing for their ideas in a sea of patience may take a while, but
patience comes more easily in solitude.
Hopefully writings will be able to flourish as much or as little as
their creator decides.
2 comments:
I like the idea of writing for youself, which is something that I've actually never considered doing. It's always been with the goal of getting a grade, or posting to a website, or something else. I think it would be so empowering to just write something that isn't intended for anyone but me. Sort of like Dickinson I guess.
So, have you started writing for yourself?
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