Ink | Pen | Paper

(I may have written something like this before, in this blog, but I just want to express these thoughts once again)

Before the year ends, I have a simple bit of advice to everyone who isn't doing it on a regular basis yet.

Learn to write down your thoughts.

You don't have to do this using the English language, you may write down your thoughts and observations in any language or dialect you are comfortable with, but do make sure you use proper punctuation and grammar. To realize why this is important, think of what you're writing as something you're doing, not because you're just ranting or "just letting off steam". Think of it as an important means to communicate who you are to the world, and if you don't communicate your thoughts properly, the misinterpretations brought about by your clunky writing might paint you in the wrong light.

So write down your thoughts, because frankly, one day you will die (you can't write if you're dead, obviously), and it would be a pity if no one has any idea of what you go through on a daily basis, if you don't have any personal thoughts written down someplace. Whether that "place" be a Facebook status post or note, an internet blog, a carefully prepared real-world diary, a run-down notebook, an expensive organizer, or a slab of yellow pad paper--the important thing is you write it down.

It doesn't have to be formal either. It also doesn't have to involve something "life-changing" that you may have observed, or something awe-inspiring that you feel you want to share. It could be just that trip to the local barbershop or beauty parlor and the casual observations you made while having your hair or nails done. It also doesn't even matter whether you believe or not in the divine, or the afterlife, nor does whatever political or philosophical leanings you passionately support or despise matter or not--the important thing is you do something NOW, when you have the time to do it.

The first process of any scientific pursuit is observation. When humans started observing the world around them many thousands of years ago, one of the probable reasons why people kept failing to remember some of the things they observed (and thus fail to learn from certain mistakes), is because they failed to RECORD them, via a written note or some other form of data capture. By you recording your ideas and thoughts, no matter how mundane, erroneous or trivial they may be, you are STILL contributing to the data set. History or scientific analysis will later judge whether your thoughts and observations are correct or flawed, but in the first place, if you DIDN'T write anything down, there is no data to process in the first place.

So do it--learn to write down your thoughts starting this 2015, and contribute to this grand struggle of recording the human experience.