Writing is also a way of life

Cover of the work "Write and Live" (Photo: First News).

Anne Lamott is the New York Times bestselling author of Almost Everything; Hallelujah Anyway; Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; and seven novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. Lamott received a Guggenheim Fellowship and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. She currently lives in northern California.

“Write and Live” (original title: Bird by Bird, translated by Phuong Anh) by Anne Lamott, although published more than 30 years ago, is still considered an indispensable handbook for anyone who wants to enter the world of words and live more deeply through writing.

The book is built from Anne's lectures in writing classes, combined with her personal memories, writing experiences, and observations about writing.

According to First News, the beauty of the book lies in the fact that Anne Lamott does not give tips or writing methods but discusses more deeply the nature of creativity and its meaning to life. At the same time, she also points out the difficulties we may encounter in the writing process, thereby overcoming them.

“Starting to write is like diving into a pool of water when swimming: you may flail and flail your arms, but at least you’ve jumped in,” says Anne Lamott. “Then you start doing whatever stroke you remember, and your mind is scared—because it’s so hard and you have so far to swim—but you’re underwater, floating, moving forward.”

“Write and Live” is not simply a book about writing. It is a journey of self -discovery through each page. What Anne talks about patience, about accepting the worst versions of ourselves, or about the fear of failure, are all problems that anyone encounters on the journey of growing up. Facing blank pages is the same way we face our present, with unfinished plans and things we are not brave enough to start.

On the other hand, writing is also a way for us to connect with the world. Words are the silent thread that connects the writer and the reader, so that two strangers can understand each other, sometimes just through a sentence or a small paragraph.

Nowadays, with just one command, AI tools can produce a series of written pages at lightning speed, even with correct spelling and smoother than humans. However, such writings are easily recognizable because they lack emotion, depth of thought and the writer's unique mark. On the contrary, the words we write, although sometimes clumsy and halting, still carry emotions, experiences and multi-dimensional perspectives that machines can hardly imitate.

For author Anne Lamott, writing is also a way of life (Photo: First News).

Writing, for Anne, is not only a skill but also a way of life. Many people think that becoming a writer is the ultimate goal of publishing a book, but the truth is not so. Publishing a book does not make the writer a better or happier version, but the writing process does. In the moment of letting the words out, a change is silently taking place inside the writer. They feel more understanding of themselves, increase their ability to observe and listen to the world more deeply, sympathize more with the fragile things in life...

Many studies have shown that writing can help relieve stress and mental trauma. Dr. James Pennebaker's research shows that people who write down their thoughts about past pain for 15 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days can improve their immune system, thereby significantly improving their mental health. Or a study by Emmons and McCullough in 2003 showed that people who wrote down 5 things they were grateful for each week for 10 consecutive weeks had a 25% increase in happiness.

For this reason, “Write and Live” is not only necessary for those who hold a pen, but also useful for ordinary readers. Each of us has a few stories to tell, and every story deserves to be written, no matter how small, awkward, or doubtful its beginnings.

It could be a story we want to dedicate to a loved one who is about to leave this life, a message for the future, or simply a memory we want to tell our children and grandchildren. Just write it down little by little, “deal with each bird one by one”, even if it cannot be printed into a book, those words will help you relieve or find your own direction.

LINH BAO

Source: https://nhandan.vn/viet-cung-la-cach-song-post924008.html