I was reading an article the other day about what therapists know that everyone should actually know (see reference, below).

It included things like “Feelings change over time,” and “Therapists guide; they don’t fix,” and “Your feelings—whatever they may be—are valid.”

There was one item that I loved:

“Therapists don’t have it together any more than you do.”

When I read that—and, to be honest, my first thought was “Yikes! Then who has the magic formula?”—but when I read that my next thought was, it’s the same with writers.

I pick up such great life tips and truths when I read.

Don’t you?

I rather expect a writer to be that wise soul, sitting cross-legged on the peak of a mountain, observing the world and calmly writing down their breakthrough thoughts and “Eureka!” truths, ready to dispense them at a moment’s notice.

Isn’t that how it works?

I am a writer.

I do not sit on a mountain peak, and I only sit cross-legged when I’m doing yoga.

I do not have truths at my fingertips. (Although I do have the internet and a physical copy of Roget’s Thesaurus.)

I do not have all the answers to the world’s social issues, medical issues, cultural issues, environmental issues, business issues, political issues, adulting issues. I don’t even have the answers to most of my issues.

Writers, like therapists, don’t have the secrets to life any more than you do.

Which is to say, we’re all in this weird boat together just paddling along and trying not to flip.

Writers just escape the weirdness of the world by writing.

Sometimes, if we’re very lucky, in the process of writing we might find something amazing, much like a bird-watcher who sits very quietly and sometimes is lucky enough to spot a bird that has been eluding them for years.

Sometimes writers unearth something very profound, an “aha!” moment.

And sometimes, not.

But the thing is, writers keep looking for the answers.

We keep stumbling through our drafts.

If we’re lucky, if we look deep enough, if we get out our machete and hatchet the branches in front of us, we discover something we never knew before and share it with our readers.

But, truly, writers and therapists and fine artists, housepainters, teachers, doctors, none of us are any more together than anyone else.

Every one of us stumbles on the road to discovery.

Every one of us hacks down the obliterating branches, hoping to see better.

Every one of us practices life.

When we find something, we share it.

When we’re proven wrong, we know better and do better next time.

But we don’t stop.

Or, at least, I hope none of us do.

I hope we all keep looking for the answers and share them when we find them.

That includes, you, too.

Find some magic.

That’s what stories are all about.

Find your magic.

That’s what life is all about.

Until next time, enjoy yourself.

~ Gail

Reference: https://www.romper.com/p/24-things-all-therapists-learn-that-everyone-should-actually-know-9942850

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