Catalyst - Notes on Writing

What started it all? In regards to this one sacred writing life. Day 2 of #meetthewriter.

At first reflection, it all seems to have happened by accident. A big life change, moving across the world and back “home” again. With stories to tell and images knocking on the doors of my mind to come out. Reverse culture shock and the longing to say something about all these small moments that kept catching me off guard. The way Chinese buffets in the US work, the loud celebration of the fourth of July, seeing an old friend’s car driving through the streets of my hometown rather than the beloved city I left behind with tears springing up unexpectedly. All these small moments led me to write, those were the catalyst of this iteration of my writing life that began in my early twenties. 

Yet, if I dig deeper, the love of words has been there all along. As long as I can remember I’ve loved words. My parents read books to me each night before bed. I would often pick out The King of Pizza, Rip Van Winkle, or Jonah and the Whale (these aren’t the actual books, but the King of Pizza is) it’s funny now thinking that those three books truly formed me, even now I see the fingerprints those books left on me.

I love food, I even made pizza last night. Food has been a place I’ve found deep comfort and community. I love the whole process of finding a recipe, going to buy all the ingredients and preparing a meal and I love sitting around a table sharing a meal. Rip Van Winkle, a story that intrigued me early on in life about the passage of time, how someone could leave and then decades pass where they show up and everything has changed, but they feel as if it’s only been a day. I’m an observer, a thinker and wonderer, I have a nostalgic leaning that makes it easy for me to reflect back to what has been and see how far I’ve come. And Jonah in the Whale, the first bible story I remember learning. A prophet, given something to say, but hides in the whale. Chaos and pride get him thrown off the boat. And caught into the belly of the whale. But God rescues Jonah anyway. Isn’t that so many of our stories? God just keeps rescuing us anyway. 

I remember writing stories as a child. I entered the Young Authors competition in kindergarten (I wrote about it a little more here). I typed away on my Babi & Deda’s old type writer, often jamming the keys. I scribbled poems with my friends and passed notes all through elementary school. I blogged on tumblr in high school and adored my high school english classes, one teacher even helped me edit my college entrance essays. She suggested that I go to  grad school for English after undergrad. She thought I would be an English major in college. I did take english classes and I did love them, but it all felt too impractical. What kind of job could I get? Would I make any money writing? Or studying English? Those little whispers kept me focused elsewhere, in the social sciences. They were the boundaries I set for myself based on some arbitrary image of what “success” looks like. 

All the while in these years since 2018, writing has woven me together in ways that I can’t imagine much else could. The small moments of poetry inspired by beauty in my everyday life, the long form essays working out what I think about life, faith, goodness and truth, and the friendships forged from the pressures of the first COVID spring (looking at you

Paige Wiley

Amy Weiss

and our other pals not on Substack yet) have brought so much joy I would not trade that for the best paying job or “successful” indicator of “success” others might name.  

These have been the catalyst for this one precious writing life. This is the spark that started the fire of this writing life, and these too have been the kindling and wood that keep the fire going. 

A question to consider for you, dear reader: What is a turning point in your life that, looking back, clearly was a spark to something that now brings great delight? Was it a book you read? A conversation you had? Something new you tried? Consider writing about it and sharing that!

I’m excited to share a few more #meetthewriter pieces with you in the upcoming days. Thanks to

Beth Kempton

for these invitations to write about the writing life and grateful to reflect on my own writing journey. Check out my Day 1 piece on "View" over on Instagram. I’m going to do my best to post daily and switch back and forth between the two platforms and see what happens. Thanks for being here!