Editorial Op-Ed | Of Reading & Writing
Read Write. Live Right. Stay Bright.
To read is to write. Writing clears the mind, airs our woes, and cleanses our souls. Ultimately, it helps us to pursue a good life.
Read, write.
Smile, cry.
Inhale, exhale.
When it comes to thinking, the sky is the limit. When it comes to actions, binary response dominates. Either we do it, or we don’t.
The expression of free-thinking and binary action response is echoed by Bruce Lee.
“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
That is for thinking.
Now, his wise words for execution.
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
Either we write, or we don’t.
Why do we write?
How does writing help us live bright?
Write What Cannot Be Said (Outright)
Unfortunately, we live in a world dominated by mere mortals. We have different attitudes towards life. We have varying temper thresholds.
Those with high E.Q. know what not to say.
That does not mean they do not believe in what they want to say. People scan the external environment and think, okay, this is not worth my time.
And so, they retreat in their urban mancave.
But they still want to express themselves!
If you are in this situation, try writing. Writing allows us to express ourselves without a specific target audience. You can write to share your thoughts.
We need not address any specific target out there.
Write to Synthesize What You Read
I believe everyone is a reader.
You may not read books.
You may not read academic journals written by Ph.Ds.
However, you are in the office consuming boring content wrapped in emails. You are scrolling the Instagram feed to search for the name of the pretty poodle. You are scanning the highlights of Wall Street Journal on your phone.
You. Are. A. Reader.
Now, reading is learning. We are absorbing what we see. To apply what we learned, we need to synthesize the knowledge we consumed.
We write.
To be clear, this has nothing to do with rote memory work. No. I am referring to active learning.
Active learning requires thinking and practice.
When we write what we learned, we hone the sharpness of our message. We actively practice discarding the unnecessary. We stack new knowledge on top of what we have.
The pen is the writer’s ax. We use it to prune the knowledge White Tree buttressed in our minds.
To Write is to Talk (Within safe boundaries)
Our hand is our second mouth.
This mouth conveys no sounds.
Instead, it spits words.
I love active conversations. It helps me learn. However, not everyone is open to that.
Many people around me erect high walls of invisible defense. Behind those walls lay an emotional minefield. Beware!
If you do not know what I mean, try actively engaging in retail politics, religion, education, wealth gap with anyone around you. A long, futile battle of words awaits.
And, the best part?
We are not any smarter after that exchange.
In such circumstances, having a conversation with ourselves advances our thought maturity faster than with others.
We can write what we think. We revisit our words tomorrow. I guarantee you with new thought discoveries.
Gee, is there a loophole in my thinking?
Oh, wait a second. This part is incomplete.
Let me read it out. This sounds like a broken thought elaboration. Let me tighten this.
It is better to work on ourselves when it comes to sensitive topics. Writing helps to advance our thought maturity.
Summary
Writing is a form of expression.
With time, we learn how to find an additional outlet for our genuine thoughts. We express ourselves better.
We may develop an inner critique that complements our thinking.
At Readers Hope, we want to help you better yourself.
I look forward to reading your work.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz Liam Ireland Maria Rattray Carol Price Tree Langdon Agnes Laurens Claire Kelly Britni Pepper Karen Madej Dr. Preeti Singh Josh Balerite Acol Geetika Sethi Noorain Hassan, BMS Dew Langrial John Cunningham Regi JS Adam Zen Chan Technology Hits Esther George Kyomi O'Connor The Wordsmith™🏳️🌈🇺🇸
Resources from Previous Editorial Op-Eds:
If you find this editorial op-ed helpful to your writing journey, you may uncover more gems in the previous op-eds written for the benefit of ILLUMINATION’s contributors and readers.
- Illuminating the Editor’s Dilemma: What We (Really) Do and How We Can Do Better.
- Illuminating the Way to Overcome the Writer’s Silent Disappointment.
- Illuminating A Potential Structure for an Effective Writing Week.
- Illuminating the Need for a Writing Downtime.
- Inside the Minds of Editors: What We Look Forward to and Look Out for.
- The Future of Reading is in Writing.
- Illuminating How We Can Find Ourselves (Again) When We are Lost.
- To Write is to Build a Skillset You Will Never Regret.
- Illuminating the Way to Find Your (Real) Voice.
- First, We Read. Next, We Write. Then, We Reimagine How We Can Write.
- Illuminating How We Can Change Our Mindset for a Better Life.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.