Writer I Am

"I'm a writer," I said hesitantly. I could have just as easily said - "I'm a reader," with the little confidence I could muster. Isn't it weird that certain motor skills also qualify as jobs? Writer, speaker, seer, but listener or hearer means nothing? Why so much value on doing and so little on receiving the messages of others? Mental tangent passing, I thought back to my statement. What does it mean to be a writer? I used to think it meant being published - anywhere - or being tormented for not being published, those were the options. As if the mass approval / acceptance of others lent validity to the written words. Today my beliefs are altered. For me personally, being a writer involves invoking courage to honestly depict my thoughts and emotions through the written word. Only I know when that happens - regardless of what appears. If I inspire others or provoke a thought, it is but a bonus for which I am grateful.