What Makes You Do What You Do?

What makes you do what you do?

That question was raised to me yesterday and I didn't quite understand.  When I asked for clarification, she said, "What makes you keep writing?" and I responded, ".....ugh....stuff?"  The fact is though, that my answer, or lack of one, kept nagging at me all night...

The truth, I suppose, is that I have no idea why I feel a need to write.  Maybe I don't know how to really communicate otherwise.  Whatever it is, I know that when I sit down and start hitting the keys, it brings me a kind of clarity.  Whether I'm writing a novel, short story, or song, it makes me smile.  I guess that's all that is really important.

I have spent the last year, since I finished writing Out of Arms Reach, worrying about whether my work is good enough for my friends and family to read, for agents to like, for publishers to take a chance on, for readers to love, but the fact is...it doesn't matter.  A few weeks ago I wrote a post about doing what you love in life, to pursue happiness, and I haven't been practicing what I preach.

See, in the bigger scheme of things, I don't care if I have a regular job and just write for myself and those who choose to read it.  Whether my books are in stores and my songs are on the radio, or my novels are on my own shelf and my songs are in my head, writing and sharing them brings me a smile.

I guess that's all we can ask of anything we do in life.  Whether you like taking photos, raising animals, working with flowers, or restoring cars, do it because you love it, not because you could make money or become well known.  I think it's time I start living by my own words....

Cheers everybody,