Why I Write

I realize that I probably don't have anybody reading this blog. 

But yesterday, in English class, as we were talking about the life of Wilfred Owen, the famous World War I poet, our English teacher told us something.

"Before Owen met a writer at a hospital in France, he didn't write about the war. He thought that poems were supposed to be happy, beautiful things, not sad, depressing pieces of writing. But when he met this other writer, he was encouraged to write about his trials and hardships. Not because he thought he would be famous; because he realized after a while that it was helping him to put things into perspective."

And I realized that that's pretty much my philosophy on this blog. I don't write often, but that also means that when I do, it's something that I think the world should know--or, at least something that my future self should look back on and remember. I realized that this blog is so much more than for my being able to let out my feelings about life as a TCK--it's about being able to put things into perspective, so that there's something there for me to read back on later.

I'm always going to be different. 

I realized that a few months ago, as I was in Switzerland, struggling with my identity and culture shock. It was a challenging thing to accept, but I realized that it's inevitable. And, since it is, it should also become something that I embrace as a person. My differences aren't always going to be a bad thing, even if it feels like they will  be. Someday, the things that I've experienced are going to be blessing to somebody else. I'll be able to look another TCK in the eye and say, "I know exactly how you feel", and be able to talk about it, and be different with somebody else.

And until then, I find comfort in being able to write all my experiences down "on paper". Not all TCKs do this, but I feel like I should. Someday, I'll have a different blog, one that tells my friends and family that are scattered across the world how I'm doing in the places I'm going and the new things I'm experiencing. But for now, this blog is just for me. It's something that I'm writing to others out there who are experiencing the same things. And I'm writing it to my future self, as an encouragement, that these experiences, even though they're hard, are blessings in disguise. I know that I'm going to look back at this blog and smile, and see how God has carried me through everything.

Because, like with Wilfred Owen, writing isn't just for the easy stuff. And it isn't just for the relatable stuff. Sometimes it's just something that's just for you, to enjoy. And that's why I write.