I have recently heard that some people wonder whether I write my own blog posts or not. I can understand why they might think that, since I am a very busy woman with lots of responsibilities and commitments (although really, could anyone else make up some of the stuff I say?!). But what you all may not understand is that in the deepest part of my soul, I am a writer. I love writing. Writing gives me energy rather than takes it, and if it was the last thing on earth that I was able to do, I would be happy writing and I would probably write about it. And the writing I am most happy doing is what I call “documenting.” I mean, if I didn’t have a day job, I would love to write novels (romance novels!). But I need to do the documenting I do in order to survive. And yes, I will write on napkins, scraps of paper, and the margins of books if I have to.
It started when I was in my teens, and I began writing in journals. But I quickly got bored just telling what happened, so I started writing in poetry. I now have 35 years’ worth of journals…all in poetry! Sorry, you can’t read them. In order to be a great documentary writer, one must feel totally free and unbound. I think of the writers who inspired me: Doris Lessing and The Golden Notebook, for example. But that is not the kind of book a CEO like me can publish. So I keep those poems, and that writing, for myself, and for my most special and courageous friends. Because the truth is, it’s in the sharing that the magic happens.
Which is why I don’t mind sharing my more public thoughts with all of you on a regular basis. And it’s not just about documenting my thoughts, either. I love to document recipes, events, tips and techniques, places I’ve been, and people I’ve met. One of my favorite books I read last year was Sailing Alone Around The World, by Captain Joshua Slocum. It was written by him in 1900, and documents his journey of…yes…sailing alone around the world. He is shockingly funny for someone who lived so long ago, and the descriptions of what he ate and what he saw brings the whole wide world to life in a whole new way. A good book like that both satisfies curiosity about life, and leads to more questions. From an encounter he had with Robert Louis Stevenson’s wife while traveling, I am now inspired to read more of his work.
I think any writer wonders at times if what he or she writes is any good, if the effort is worth it, and if it matters. What I have found is that it doesn’t take much to make it feel like it does matter. For instance, while my book Organic Manifesto wasn’t a “bestseller,” I have met enough farmers and people who’ve read it to know that all my research, effort, and, yes, documenting, was worth it. And what’s great about the Internet is that stories live on, and people have the chance to discover them again and again as if they are finding something new. For instance, one of my most popular posts, month after month, is one I wrote a long time ago about how to talk to your daughter about sex. It heartens me to know that one little blog post can keep on satisfying a burning question that will never stop being asked as long as we have daughters. And maybe 100 years from now, my answers will seem archaic and old-fashioned. Or maybe they won’t. And that, to me, is half the fun of documenting, even though I won’t be here to find out the answer.
So yes, I write my own blog posts. And yes, I’m going to keep on writing them. And yes, I love to hear from all of you that what I write matters. But even if I don’t hear a word, I’m going to keep on writing because it’s what I love to do most, and I can’t help but do it!
Thank you for reading!
Dear Maria,
Happy New Year & thanks for writing about writing.
I thought that you might ; /-like/enjoy a recent article on the power of the pen ( from the Assoc of Conflict Resolution publication-the 4th R—great peeps-btw ; ).
http://www.mediate.com/acreducation/docs/4thR-Winter2010f.pdf
Main Entry: graphomania
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a passion or urge to write; also called scribomania
Etymology: Greek grapho ‘to write’
You, write your own blog posts? Who else could?
I’ve written a journal entry every night since October 12, 1978. But not in poetry. People who do that really ARE nuts!
Write on,
Peter
Brava!
As a new reader of your blog, it never occurred to me that anyone but you were writing the blog posts. I love the variety and insights you have brought to everyday but important topics.
You speak from your heart and that touches our hearts.
Thank you.
Anais Nin said in one of her diaries that she writes in order to “taste life twice” and that is surely what one does when one writes a diary. I think if someone thinks you are not writing your blog posts, they must be tone deaf. I can hear that they are authentic.
Maria, Thank you for this. We love your documenting and we love to read your thoughts. It’s one of the best parts of my day!
I work on the BikeTown project for Bicycling Magazine and have heard great things about you and the Rodale family for years. Keep up the great work and keep inspiring people all over the globe to live greener, cleaner, healthier and happier.
How to talk to your daughter about sex was great! And so glad to read you are writing romance novels, like your illustrious daughter.
Thank you, Maria. I enjoy your writing. It inspires me to write.
Just a random thought.
Peace,
Bob
Your just AWESOME! I love to read your words.
Lovely post. I too have kept a journal since I was 13.
Blogs are a great way to document life and at the very least make an incredible social history record.
While my journal is a place for the messy inner stuff.
I love “taste life twice”!
I also love this one:
“It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.”
— Vita Sackville-West
Well done aritlce that. I’ll make sure to use it wisely.