VOICE OR ECHO

Today, October 20th, is NATIONAL WRITING DAY.

Started by the National Council of Teachers of English, it is a day to celebrate the importance, joy and evolution or writing (the main campaign is a Twitter hashtag of #WhyIwrite).

I got in on this as well.

Actually, the title of today's blog, "VOICE OR ECHO" has been sitting in my blog que for over a week.  

Each time I think I have something, I stare at the blank page with just the word graphic above asking the question, "Are you a Voice or an Echo?"

Today was different.  I looked at Twitter and saw that #WhyIWrite was trending....so I started looking at it.  That is when I discovered it was NATIONAL WRITING DAY.

I don't look at myself as a writer.  I haven't published anything....yet.  The closest I get is right here in the BEST YEAR YET blog.  But I do write, everyday.

I should probably look at myself as a writer, just like I look at myself as a runner.  I tell people all the time, "If you lace up your shoes and go out to run, you are a runner.

I guess the same holds true for writing.  If you put words down on a page and someone reads it, even if it is only the CHEERLEADER, you are a writer.

So my quest is to be a VOICE and not an ECHO.

What is it I get from writing and what does the reader get from reading my writing?

I'm not looking to just duplicate what someone else has to say, like Tommy "Repeat" Timmons

Even though you might hear a similar "tone" in other like writings, the intention is to be a VOICE.

Jesus, in Mark 1:3 said of John the Baptist, that he was, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness..." .  John's "voice" was fresh...authentic.  It brought people to think and make a decision.

Now, I'm not John the Baptist, but I do believe that I have a VOICE.  

I believe YOU have a VOICE as well.

What is your VOICE?  What is it that you have that others need to hear?

Is it to stand up to injustice?

Is it to teach basketball; running; golf; cooking; sewing; singing; etc.?

Is it to sing?

Is it to speak?

Is it to write?

Whatever you VOICE is, don't let it be silent.  Get it out for others to hear.

Be a VOICE and not an ECHO!