Dot to dot

Image found at Future Media

Taking a step into uncharted creative territory is always a double-edged sword. There is the risk of criticism and the question of ability or talent on one side, and the reward of connecting an idea, thought, and life experience on the other.

In fifth grade I had a teacher who took the double-edged rick of teaching her students to excel. In the midst of her great effort, she taught me that I had a distinct voice in what I wrote. It's because of her early teaching about poetry and literature that I still write today. To tell the truth, writing is something that has saved my life, many times over. Thank you for teaching me that I have a unique voice Mrs. Hodak.

On days in my childhood and adolescence when I was incredibly sad: like when my sister passed away at the tender age of fifteen, when my family was numb with grief, when I thought that life would have been better for my family had I been the one that had died; writing gave me place to safely express all that pain and loss.

Then again, writing is not exclusive to only expressing pain. Writing is also about sharing the joys in life. Writing for me is a venue of crossing limitations of time, geographic boundaries, social breakdowns, religious differences, and allowed for an intersection of uncanny commonalities of humanity to take place. Writing is something like a dot to dot sheet in a child's activity book. One number traced to the next, or letter in this case, and something new and interesting emerges.

Expressing myself in creatively ultimately is a way and means of connecting with others. There is no joy like the joy of having someone read a poem, listen to a song read an essay or see a painting and find things that connect from that creative expression into their life.

Connecting the dots is what it's all about, dots of pain, joy, anger, love, the ugly and the beautiful. Truth is we need all of what life hands us, and we need a place to share it. My place is in playing dot to dot with words. Yes, writing is a double-edged sword, but it is the place I discovered my voice all those years ago and I will continue to write in order to make contact. Connections will be made, letter by letter, number by number, and dot by dot.