Throughout my life, writing has always been a fundamental mechanism to pull me out of the darker times. It's something about being able to write down the words that you struggle to say out loud; it's like the world's cheapest therapy.

Why do we write? Do we write to express ourselves? To feed that creative buzz inside us? Or simply because we can?

Me, I write to make sense of the world around me. Ever since I could, I have written poems and stories about the things that inspire me; the things that affect me in some way or the other.

Throughout my life, writing has always been a fundamental mechanism to pull me out of the darker times. It's something about being able to write down the words that you struggle to say out loud; it's like the world's cheapest therapy. Writing allows you to unlock the emotions that you might have been forcing out of your mind; emotions that you need to set free in order to grow.

So many of the things I write, I never even show anyone. Whether this is in the form of poetry, journaling or fiction; they are just for me and me alone. And most of the time, they're pretty damn awful. But it doesn't matter. They simply work as an outlet for whatever I am battling with, whatever is on my mind at that time.

I carry a notebook with me everywhere. And I mean, all the time. I carry it with me so that whenever something pops into my head, something that I know is important, I can write it down. It might be the name of a book that I will never write, or a city that I might never visit. Sometimes it will be a whole page describing a place I have not yet seen or a person I have not yet met. But it's there and it's in my head, so it needs to get down on that page.

My mind is constantly buzzing with different ideas. And sometimes it can get so overwhelming. There are so many things I want to - need to - see and do, and often it feels like I cannot keep track of it all.

Writing calms me. Writing relaxes me. Writing helps me break down the madness into manageable chunks. Writing frees me.

For anyone who is reading this, I urge you to grab that pen. Every day, write something. Anything. A word, a sentence, a whole damn story if you like. Let your soul dictate the words and surprise yourself with what ends up on the page. Allow yourself to connect with parts of yourself you tend to ignore and set your feelings free. It really is the most beautiful way to throw off the shackles and release your inner being.

Read more of Amber's work here or visit her blog here.

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