Look back when you need courage

The most common reaction I get from my personal writing, like this blog, goes something like, "You said what I was thinking and couldn't say." It's really an honor to hear something like that. There are a number of places I turn for when I can't make sense out of my feelings and thoughts, and I'm thankful for the clearing-the-air power they seem to have. One of my friends once said there is a difference between the song that makes you feel a certain way and a song that helps you feel what you're feeling. 

When someone says I write what they were thinking, I have to fight the pressure to flip the equation – to want to know what they're thinking so I can write about it. The voices shout over one another and the page stares blankly and the cursor crosses its arms and taps it foot. I look frantically for inspiration to give me enough juice to crank out something useful for the masses.

And when I've found none, I go back. I read old posts and old journals and I remember old prayers. I scroll through all our pictures and look at the scars on my hands that correspond with those bloody knuckles. And I remember the first person who said, Wow you wrote what I was thinking –––– it was me.