Finding Joy in Writing

As a young person, writing proved to be one of the best ways to cope with some of life's unexpected turns. I grew up in the Philippines where English classes, which stressed the importance of writing and grammar, where part and parcel of our curriculum. In fact, all our classes were taught in English, so it was not only imperative but necessary that we were fluent in the language. My mother, being a teacher, insisted on using English at home so we could hone our language skills. We didn't mind that at all since we were allowed to use our native tongue with friends. I found so much enjoyment in writing about whatever topic happened to interest me at that moment. When a couple of my articles were published in our school paper, it was only the natural Filipino humility that kept me from telling everyone I knew that I had accomplished this. Because I had 7 brothers and sisters, keeping a diary was out of the question. If one of them found it, I would be the butt of their jokes forever. So I would write about very private matters and then destroy them. That did not detract from the immense joy I found in putting things down on paper. The work I do now involves a lot of writing albeit business-related. This is a chore that I don't consider a chore. In fact, I enjoy doing it. Now, my own daughter feels the same way about writing. When she was much younger, the stuff that she needed to write as part of school work was quite difficult to do. She needed a lot of guidance and tutoring to make the writing flow easily. Thank goodness for the patience of these tutors and teachers. They taught her the importance of outlines. They taught her the importance of reviewing her work. They taught her how to feel a connection to what she was writing about. As a junior in high school, she joined the newspaper team and writes reviews about Broadway shows, which she is passionate about. Off-Broadway shows and shows performed in school have been written about too. She also writes for theateradviser.com. She is a regular reader of this blog. She has been a wonderful source of comments. There is so much joy to be found in writing but perhaps the greater joy for me is that I share it with my daughter.