Digressions: My Life in 500 Words or Less

If you are reading this you are important to writers like me. If you are reading this maybe you value words and thought. Maybe you seek creativity in the way the written word is presented.

As a writer, I want to find readers like you. As a writer, I want to be worthy of the time readers like you invest.

Maybe you are a friend. Maybe we’ve never met. Maybe that does not matter much when you read what I’ve written. Maybe it makes all the difference in how you interpret my writing.

If you are reading this, maybe you believe expression is important. Maybe you actively seek a variety of perspectives or appreciate the beauty of language.

In that sense we are alike, you and I. By embracing the very essence of diverse viewpoints, the celebration of human communication and the admiration of literary creation, we discover worlds, thoughts and impressions beyond our own.

Maybe you read for information. Maybe you read for pleasure.

If you are reading this you know I cannot guarantee either, but you might find both or even something you didn’t know to seek. As a writer, the value of my work includes the impact it makes on the reader, even if just one.

Maybe you are that one reader. Maybe it is someone else. Maybe you are one of many. Maybe I can only hope.

Despite reports of falling numbers of those who read for pleasure, the written word is still a foundation for transmitting and preserving thought. Reading is still powerful nourishment for the body and soul.

If you are reading this you are proof the written word is still alive, still can capture the interest of someone. You are proof that writers like me are not toiling in vain.

Some sources even have noted an increase in sales of print books. Some still believe nothing can replace the feel and smell of a print book. Maybe that is part of the whole experience when reading the written word.

Ultimately, the written word can still entertain. It can still convince and cajole. It can observe and obfuscate.

If you are reading this, maybe the written word is not as doomed as many think. Maybe it is simply a hungry animal fed each time someone peruses a poem or browses a blog.

Maybe it is a hungry animal fed each time someone reads for information or imagination.

Maybe it is an animal that got stronger because you are reading this.