Why I Write: Writing Allows Me A Deeper Quest To My Own Meaning

Writing as thinking

I am not a fiction writer- atleast not yet! As a psychologist, a teacher and a coach I write on my subject of expertise.

Imagine a huge dump of undistinguished ideas with no beginning, no links, no end, no clarity. That is how my ideas are milling in my mind many a time. When I sit to destrand these into separate threads of thought there is something deeply satisfying in it. It is like straightening and rolling into a neat ball, wool that has been all tangled up.

Imagine a huge dump of undistinguished ideas with no beginning, no links, no end, no clarity. That is how my ideas are milling in my mind many a time.

Writing as a form of thinking allows me a deeper quest to my own meaning, my personal experience with the concept I am delving into. It usually invites a quality of reflection that I otherwise might not do for example while I am taking my morning walk. When something emerges from within and appears as text on my screen I see it for myself more clearly and this is gratifying in itself. So I write for myself and it slowly takes a form to be presented to others.

Writing as storytelling for learning

Stories have an appeal to anybody- I think it appeals to the child or the younger self in us. We all have stories to tell and sharing these stories is cathartic in itself and reading stories has been much learning and provocation for me.

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In my book Step Up I share many stories of my own to illustrate a point I am making. My intent is to tell you that as an individual I am not removed in any way from the issue that I focus on. Sharing my personal stories is an equalizer of sorts to say- I am you in another form. An outcome of sharing my stories is the experience of joy and gratitude as I look back and see the journey that I have made.

Step Up by Sailaja Manacha

In Step Up I have also shared several other stories of women I have met and worked with. My readers tell me that they resonate with one or the other of those stories and this gave them comfort. We tend to imagine that we are the only ones going through an experience be it grief, confusion, conflict and it feels deeply reassuring to read stories of others who have also been through similar. It inspires hope and a possibility for change. It is as if a quiet voice whispers within us- ‘If they could do it so can you.’ This is a gift to ourselves. This quiet unspoken hope.

Sharing my personal stories is an equalizer of sorts to say- I am you in another form. An outcome of sharing my stories is the experience of joy and gratitude as I look back and see the journey that I have made.

Writing as a conversation.

One of the reason Step up was written was to reach audiences that I may otherwise never meet. It is deeply satisfying for me to imagine a person I may never know who might pick up my book and be supported to creating a new possibility for themselves through the ideas and tools in my book. To imagine that some woman in a small town or city becomes alive to her own agency to act on something that is important to her. To imagine that for another woman a dream or aspiration that was relegated to the background now comes to the foreground of her life giving her meaning and purpose for the months ahead.

Human beings are generative beings. It gives us deep satisfaction when we are generating results in areas of our lives that really matter to us. For the many entrepreneurs and career women who are are giving innumerable hours to worklife Step Up is my conversation with you.

A conversation to provoke you with questions that will help you take care of what you really care about .

A conversation with you to present many ideas you can implement to design the life you wish to live.

A conversation to facilitate a return to you a part of yourself that is capable of creating new possibilities and futures for yourself and those around you.

A conversation that forces you to ask how you wish to be in charge of impacting yourself and the world!

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Sailaja Manacha is the author of Step Up: Women's Journey to Identity, Success and Power. The views expressed are the author's own.