From the head to the heart

American Novelist Flannery O’ Connor said, “I write to discover what I know.”  Writing answers the questions that you are afraid to ask, and also the ones you’ve asked all your life. You know the answers and writing helps you know you know them!

The critical factor in this discovery is your authenticity- it’s the heart that counts, not the head. Unfortunately, we live at a time when the world eulogizes perfectionism, praises outward beauty, and sets external barometers for our internal journey. But there is more to our lives than what the world acknowledges. We are first accountable to ourselves. Therefore don’t think of what others think, while you let go your heart’s feelings on paper. Let not others approval motivate you to write as much as your own need to connect to your deeper self. Let the world’s judgments of right and wrongs not stifle your growth. You need to trust yourself and write with abandon. The English Romantic poet William Wordsworth expressed it best, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

A fascinating discovery

Each morning the first thing I do is writing. Many articles and essays take birth from my pre-dawn expressions. Sometimes though I forget that writing is not a means but an end in itself; it’s not a tool to make an impact on the world; it’s not so much for others’ consumption as it is a means for self-discovery and a tool to express myself. When I forget this sacred principle, I struggle to pen down my thoughts. The exercise stifles me and leaves me tired.

One day I made a fascinating discovery. After I complete an article, I often submit it for correction to grammaly.com. It’s a paid application that checks grammatical mistakes and offers suggestions to improve the article. Based on an objective criterion, Grammarly also gives your writing a score out of a hundred.  Often I’d score less than sixty and read the comment at the end: ‘aim for a score in the range of 60-80.’

To be continued…

]]>