Great Reader-Compulsive Writer

I once knew a doctor (no, not my Heathcliff) who explained to me that great readers are not necessarily the best writers, and vice-versa.




Well, he may have been half-correct, but I can’t entirely agree with this profile.



You see, I love to read, but I am absolutely driven to write, which does not mean if I had more time at my disposal that I wouldn’t read almost as much as I write. The last is compulsive, I admit, and not the former. Actually, I do each in spurts.



So – what’s with this writing thing? Well, for many years I wrote to just one person who amazingly read every word I ever wrote. Literally thousands of pages. Why? I guess because he cared about me, and incidentally, he was a voracious reader. You see, for every writer, there must be at least 1 reader – hopefully a lot more.



What is it we write about? Whatever has great meaning for us. Writers, you see, are essentially writing for themselves, and only incidentally writing for others. Some are honest enough to openly admit this. Others would rather keep this kind of a secret, but I am telling you the truth. I write chiefly for myself, and in the process I hope that some of you will appreciate a little of what I write. It’s like an actor or actress. They cannot help being who they are, changing all the time if they are really good, but they do hope to be able to “connect” with the rest of us.



And that’s a lot of it too – this business of “connecting”. You see, none of us lives in total isolation. Actually, I am firmly convinced that to reach out to one another is as much a part of the “human condition” as breathing. How many times in the course of a day or evening do you think about somebody, only to have that person later or the following day call you? That isn’t coincidence. It’s a “connection via vibes”, to coin a simple phrase. And if you don’t hear from that person I believe it’s either a. he has overridden the thought of you and chooses not to communicate with you for a variety of reasons, or b. he is waiting for a more opportune time to get in touch with you. Yes, I firmly believe this because I can point to many examples where upon thinking of a person, I received a phone call or e-mail from that person within the hour. Not coincidence. There is very little in life, in fact, that is “pure coincidence” – if anything. I am a real believer in cause and effect, not just among humans but within the entire Universe as well because it isn’t only that WE are all connected, it’s that EVERYTHING in the Universe is connected as well because ALL of it is connected to God. Whether or not you recognize Him.



I find a great deal of harmony and balance in this belief, do you? Each of us has our own image and understanding of what God IS and ISN’T. And these images can be as different as Night from Day. But since Day is only the opposite of Night, the root is always the same thing anyhow.



So – voracious reader or compulsive writer – in the end it’s all the same. They both keep us connected with one another, which ultimately connects us all to God.