When you’re a writer, do you look to the things that are happening inside yourself, or outside of yourself? Or do you, and should you, do both? Beginning writers often start out writing about themselves, and this is certainly not a bad thing. Eventually, as we mature, we can begin to feel ourselves capable of forming thoughts, and responses to the things happening ‘out there’.
We write, share our words, get feedback from others and gain respect for what we write and say, and we realise we can help to influence our world, using our words and the gravitas gained from sharing them. So when we reach that stage in our writing career, surely it’s time to look outside of ourselves, and to write about topical things, events happening ‘out there’ in the real world.
Gaining respect, utilising your mind, and talents with words, gives you the chance to work at helping to make a difference, to assist in opening up the minds of other people. It’s possibly true that you don’t feel qualified for this role, but step up and do it anyway. There are so many people using their words, but they’re using them for selfish reasons, not the good reasons you would be doing it for.
Step up, reach out, write, and read out what you have written, bravely, and without fear or favour! Your time has come. I am always humbled when people tell me they find me inspiring. Yes I’m humbled, but also excited, that another person has seen what I can do, and they can begin to think they can do these things too.

I’m not anything extraordinary, I’m just one person, punching above my weight perhaps, but using my talents to do all I can, to do good, in the ways I’m capable of doing. Writing, and authentically connecting with others, are my major skills. I use those skills when I can, reaching out to others, writing on things that seem important to my various ‘communities’. Friends, family, others, writers, community-driven people, working together, bringing a greater good.
When you have opinions on topical issues, use your words and your mind, to explore the issues, write, think, write again, and share. Words help you to gather together your opinions, and once you’ve gathered those opinions, send them out, poetry, prose, however you can, get it down, then get it out, into your greater world. The writers/thinkers, the creatively minded ones will be the ones who can bring us all together, fighting for a common good.
We must do this, and connect with other people to do more of it, otherwise we are likely to be overtrodden, victims of ‘the market’, and the lack of vision that seems to be overrunning so many things at the moment. Politicians don’t care about people, their care about votes. But we, the people, are the voters, our vote, and our word, is what the politicians should fear, not want. Speak out, so the government realises they must pay attention to what we, the people, have to say!

Don’t be docile, grazing in the field the government wishes you to remain in, crash through, or you, we all, will crash, victims of lack of proper thought, and lack of true Vision. We can do this, with our words, and our heart and minds. Together. Are you with me?

a thought-provoking post and I agree: it is important to connect with topical events, to be brave and outspoken as you say, which is why I put up a little ditty a few days ago about the corona virus; sometimes a little humour helps; I have yet to see a poem about this maniacal pursuit of toilet paper 🙂
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I started to write such a poem, John, but it seemed unkind to laugh at the people who are dumb enough to get caught up in these ridiculous times of buying up vast amounts of toilet paper, much more than even a big family might need even if they were having virus-caused lock down … The idiocy of it is painful. And then to read people are trying to make money out of the fears on eBay. Madness.
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yes, you do tread a fine line writing about such idiotic behaviour between humour and disgust; probably best to stay clear
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I’ve just put up a poem which deals DIRECTLY with a topical event; be interested in what you think, Carolyn 🙂
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I bought one item of clothing at my Op Shop jaunt in Mallala this morning, that is relevant for this conversation, John. It was a T-shirt for Corona Beer … It easily fit into my bag of other, prettier items, and I bought it, not for wearing, but for remembering. The time the corona virus hit the world and many Australians suffered from a bout of massive stupidity. Although, some of those ‘buying up big’ are selling the toilet paper at a big profit, and doing well out of it, so who am I to say who is stupid, and who is smart … We haven’t bought up any more toilet paper, from before this current madness began, we already had enough.
If corona virus was a tummy bug, rather than one for the upper respiratory tract, it would make more sense. Although, it seems some people use toilet paper as tissue paper, a think I’d never considered, unless I happen to be sitting in the smallest room of the house, and suddenly had to blow my nose …
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If you mean the Sloth poem, John, I enjoyed that very much, and commented on it.
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