Sometimes, a really good writer will be able to express your own thoughts better than you can. For me, one of those writers is Henri Nouwen.

Even though he is no longer with us, his writing still speaks volumes to me whenever I read it. His own words on writing speak on why I write better than anything I could have written myself:

“Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.

Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be ‘redeemed’ by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.”

Exactly.

PS I’m kidding about the “infernal blogs” part, of course. Even after 3 1/2 years and almost 1,400 blogs, I still very much love writing them.