Stamped by Nyx

“Write hard and clear about what hurts.“

This quote by Ernest Hemingway is one I strive to live by. Anyone can write, but for a piece to truly resonate, it needs to stem from something real. For me, I take a single emotion – no matter how small – and focus on it. I let it grow and evolve until it becomes something tangible.

I had a realization about my writing last year. It was a rough day, and that night, I sat down to journal about it when a song started to playing outside. It took me a minute to recognize the song, but when the melody sank in, I set my pen down. Some random college student was blasting Cocaine Jesus by Rainbow Kitten Surprise in the parking lot – the only song that was played that loudly.

Taking the time to sit in the moment, I felt almost all of my stress fall off my shoulders. I realized that I often write about the bad and stressful – which is not necessarily a bad thing. But when I write about the good, I do not give it nearly as much detail or weight. When the song ended, I took a deep breath and, for once, I wrote about the good that happened that day.

The answer is simple.

Now, you might be wondering what that has to do with the Ernest Hemingway quote at the top. The answer is simple. When you write down your feelings in a journal, the chances of you going back and rereading old entries are slim. But when you sit down to write – to offload some of the negativity weighing on your soul – and something makes you stop and think “Have I ever written something positive in here to look back on?” it hurts to realize that, besides that one entry, you probably have not.

Hurt comes in many forms. It is not just breakups, job losses, or the death of someone close – it is also the quiet realizations that settle deep in your bones. It is noticing that you only take pictures of things and people you cherish because they feel like one of the few permanent things in life. It is realizing that you rarely write about the good moments, even though they deserve to be remembered just as much as the bad. Yes, that is what memories are for, but the same can be said about the pain we carry.

…the words you write last until the ink fades completely or the pages are set aflame.

“Write hard and clear about what hurts.“ But also, write hard and clear about what makes your soul vibrate with energy. Let the good take up just as much as the bad. Leave yourself happy notes, reminders that joy exist, because we all know that life is not always kind. The words you speak may linger, but the words you write last until the ink fades completely or the pages are set aflame.

So, thank you, random college student at late-as-fuck-o’clock, for that little-big reminder. It was very much needed.

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What is one moment of joy or peace you have experienced recently that deserves to be written about? Take a moment to jot it down or share it in the comments below. Let us start a new habit of celebrating the good, no matter how small it may seem!