Forwards and occasionally sidewards – everyday musings of life

Once again on my holiday I felt the need to write in a notebook even though I took my iPad for this purpose. This happened on my last big trip too. Without warning I get this strong urge to write. I imagine it’s a similar feeling a musician gets when they hear a tune in their head and they just have to play it. Maybe it resonates from being in a different environment or emotions being stirred that makes me want to capture that moment. 

Maybe expressing ourselves through writing, painting, carving, music is a deep rooted human behaviour baked into our DNA. Back through time humans have captured thoughts, moments, triumphs, wars and heroes this way.

For me there is something about writing  on paper that unlocks thoughts, releases anxiety and gets my creative juices flowing. I don’t consider myself to be creative, but when I pick up a pen and write it’s amazing what comes out.

It was during one of these writing moments in Sydney overlooking Darling Harbour that I realised that I’ve been using the medium of writing to release anxieties that I find difficult to talk about. I wasn’t consciously writing about this, why would I, I was in one of the most iconic harbours in the world!, the words just flowed from the pen. Before long all my built up anxieties started coming out as I wrote page after page. I realised that there is a huge amount of change going on in my life at the moment, including moving house, retirement looming, Karen starting a new job and a big holiday to plan. While I look at this as exciting times, deep down I now think there were some anxieties and worries needing to come out in ink.