Have You Found Your Reason to Simply Exist, or be an Active Explorer of Words and Make a Difference with Your Life?

In an attempt to bring this article to the focus of its readers, who (I hope, are varied, far & wide), I love chocolate!

So, I hear you all asking the question... what!?

-- why on earth does chocolate have any remote relevance to this particular article topic?

Well you see, writing can very quickly become an enjoyable, engrossing, and much-liked habit. As it can with a large number of us across the planet today. Is that not a reason why we are all on Vocal most of our free time - writing to simply get 'emotional 'highs' when checking our stats and reading comments from other writers on our own published works?

-- Thereby, chocolate is habit-forming but provides the reward you desperately need when you require a quick boost to your happy hormones - if you are a Dietician or a Dentist reading this (maybe you should pretend you did not read this bit?)

The picture below represents what we feel when we read positive comments and high stats on something we have written (correct that - typed.) We get a reward for our own published works, each time a read or a good comment and/or little payments and bonuses appear on our Vocal accounts. Causing a cycle of events to occur giving us positive reinforcement every time - and we simply keep trudging onwards, striving to better ourselves every time. Writing builds us up emotionally speaking, allowing us to continuously strive further onward & wanting to see where our newly discovered habit/skill takes us in life.

Simply stated -

'A smile can stretch a thousand miles where words alone cannot travel,'

and,

'Vision transcends all spoken words.'

We feel on top of the world......

*** *** ***

Reducing stress & anxiety that habitually plagues you throughout your lifetime. I have spent much of my working life working 12-hour night & day shifts as a mental health nurse, which, as I imagine readers coming to this article can very easily relate with - particularly if they have been a nurse in the past or are involved in this field of work now. Everyone that I have known in the past, or still today, understands that there are copious emotions that you go through when you spend such long periods looking after others when they are unwell and vulnerable. You can easily become very susceptible to fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, sorrow, guilt, and complete and utter exhaustion; the list can go on and is certainly not exhaustive.

To combat and manage these (all, or just some) of these emotionally driven experiences, everyone needs to develop a sound strategy to get through and protect themselves - it is not about erecting a 'brick wall' between you and the stressor, more it is about creating a distraction within your life. In particular, it is about finding a healthy work-life balance; which is where hobbies, pastimes & your family life needs to be developed to balance your working schedule in harmony together. I absolutely love to go down to the beach with my wife when we can (in the UK well, let's just say the weather decides if we go at all on some days.) I like to take my camera with me and take views of the sea, the beach, and take in the atmosphere around me.

From our local beach, you can see the Isle of Wight (IOW) across the water. The tranquility that the area provides, allows me to breathe it all in - I can write endlessly afterward because the beach allows my mind to wander freely - the photo giving my free imagination to write imaginary life over there far across the waters.

I continually discover new and ingenious ways of sources for articles and story writing concepts. There are many moments when I can just 'think' of something to write about but, annoyingly there are times when I am woken suddenly in the middle of the night with a sudden idea - thanks to my trusty pen & paper so I can jot these notes down quickly before sleep again takes over once more.

My camera - well it's a bit like a window into the unknown. once I have taken a photo, then simply by looking at it, my mind tends to create many pieces of 'broken mosaics' within my imagination; allowing me to create content from that very picture, and put the pieces of mosaic together & making some sense of logic to me.

*** *** ***

The Beginning of the Decline

After needing to leave work after thirty of my working years as a result of ill-health, I very quickly needed to discover an activity that I could get involved with - do you know how boring daytime television really is (I will go out on a limb and say 'sole destroying') it makes you tired surprisingly quickly and it becomes a bad habit-forming practice when you start snacking when you are watching it - as the snacking simply tries to stave off the boredom. Creeping up on you unexpectedly, within a very short space of time, begins to diminish your self-worth and can adversely affect the practical impact this pastime has on your behavior. Self-esteem, on the other hand, affects the things you do and the choices you make consciously (the confidence in your own abilities.)

Admittedly, as a once mental health professional, the feeling words I used earlier flowed from my mouth (yes you guessed it, just like chocolate does!) so I have not had to trawl the internet to look them up. But I very quickly was left feeling 'out of my depth,' when disability and health made me re-evaluate my employment status. I know when to write seriously and actively listen to others but I do try to put humour within my articles (where appropriate to do so.) But I also know that as a writer, that humour does help in keeping the attention & interest of the reader themselves too - both good for me and good for you; a win-win scenario.

Writing is an art form in itself.

A blank page can appear very off-putting & daunting until the pen starts to flow. But it does, it will, and will do so freely - almost akin to an invisible connection to the neurons within your brain.

Writing has always been a technology within itself. I promise to keep this bit short - after all, it is not my intention to bore any of you and subject you to a history lesson at this point (that was my mum's role when she was a headteacher) I will leave that right where it should remain!

'Writing history' can be charted all the way back 30 - 40,000 years during the Palaeolithic period on our planet. Paintings and graffiti would be etched onto the walls of their caves and upon the rocks too. Later, Egyptians and Sumerians were considered as the first people who actually wrote (dated between 3500-3200 BC.) Grecians developed an alphabet from around 8th - 9th century BC.) Come the 15 century, the printing press was developed by Johannes Gutenburg in Europe. At this point in time, the very first book was put together and finally printed. As I said earlier, I promised to keep the history bit short, and do not like to let you down there, so I will stop right there - at least I can remember a few things from dozing off in my history lessons at school even now!

Today, probably the pen and paper, with the paper notebook, are (sadly) not used as much as they were in past years. Having slowly but firmly, been surpassed by technological advancements made with personal computer systems.

And in this, I am loathed to admit that the written word has been replaced by these technologies but, more that it is accurate to say that the technology has merely provided us with a furthermore accessible means for everybody to express themselves with words. As I mentioned earlier, 'vision transcends the human (spoken) word,' enabling the many disabled within our societies to access computers to allow further exploration into the written word.

Whereas it is true to say that facial gestures can say far more than words, it is also true that technology provides us with friendly accessibility to explore & open your mind through the power of that written word. But needless to say, nobody should have a reason for simply forgetting the original age-old art of handwriting.

___________________________________________________

Definitely in summing up the mediums of both traditional handwriting skill, and of typing through technological support, most (and let's here use the term 'content writer' going forward here) there is still everything going for both

- It has now become a choice of the convenience of speed against the level of grammatical and 'typo' errors.

___________________________________________________

Yet it is true to mention that either, faced with a blank piece of paper or a keyboard, with a monitor showing just a blank screen, once you start using that pen, or tapping those keyboard keys, then your thoughts will start to flow -allowing your thoughts take over, and your mind and body will begin to relax. Believe me... just try it & let your mind free. When you are finished, remember, proofing & editing your work helps to present the grammar much better before it is out there.

The one big area that became lost when handwriting skill was surpassed. Although typing can be freer to access for disabled persons, and also faster to produce a finished product than handwriting at times. The simple skill of checking your grammar got lost somewhere along the way because modern technology corrects your typing & grammar as you go along.

*** *** ***

Developing Contentment & Peace - At Last.

When I finally left work, I suddenly discovered that there was so much more time to occupy every day - which working had previously taken care of for me. There was a definite need for daily physiotherapy at home, and rekindle personal relationships that 12-hour shifts can eat away at.

However, your imagination & writing as I discovered, supported my mind's thirst for discovering another type of connectivity with the world we live in. Writing is a very positive tool to engage with. It allows me in particular to escape from the reality around me - and can do the same for you if you allow it to.

Reducing stress & anxiety that habitually plagues you throughout your lifetime. I have spent much of my working life working 12-hour night & day shifts as a mental health nurse, which, as I imagine readers coming to this article can very easily relate with - particularly if they have been a nurse in the past or are involved in this field of work now. Everyone that I have known in the past, or still today, understands that there are copious emotions that you go through when you spend such long periods looking after others when they are unwell and vulnerable. You can easily become very susceptible to fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, sorrow, guilt, and complete and utter exhaustion; the list can go on and is certainly not exhaustive.

To combat and manage these (all, or just some) of these emotionally driven experiences, everyone needs to develop a sound strategy to get through and protect themselves - it is not about erecting a 'brick wall' between you and the stressor, more it is about creating a distraction within your life. In particular, it is about finding a healthy work-life balance; which is where hobbies, pastimes & your family life needs to be developed to balance your working schedule in harmony together. I absolutely love to go down to the beach with my wife when we can (in the UK well, let's just say the weather decides if we go at all on some days.) I like to take my camera with me and take views of the sea, the beach, and take in the atmosphere around me. From our local beach, you can see the Isle of Wight across the water. The tranquility that the area provides, allows me to breathe it all in - I can write endlessly afterward because the beach allows my mind to wander freely.

After needing to leave work after most of my working years through ill-health, I very quickly needed to discover an activity that I could get involved with - do you know how boring daytime television can really be? Apart from being pretty boring, it makes you tired very quickly and it becomes a bad habit-forming practice when you start snacking when you are watching it. Surprisingly, within a very short space of time, it begins to diminish your self-worth (the practical impact this pastime has on your behavior.) Self-esteem, on the other hand, affects the things you do and the choices you make consciously (the confidence in your own abilities.)

Admittedly, as a mental health professional, these words flow from my mouth (yes you guessed it, just like chocolate does!) so I have not had to trawl the internet to look them up. I know when to write seriously and actively listen to others but I do try to put humour within my articles (where appropriate to do so.) But I also know that as a writer, that humour does help in keeping the attention & interest of the reader themselves too - both good for me and good for you; a win-win scenario.

Writing is an art form in itself.

A blank & empty page can appear very off-putting & daunting until the pen flows - take a long hard stare at this next picture, what thoughts come to mind; would it make you feel any better if the paper was not empty or was coloured?

Writing/Typing whatever you choose, that empty page or the empty glowing computer screen, can present as a constant dread, a feeling of fear, and of pure emptiness.

Or - do you see it as more of a challenge to surmount?

That's what writing is ALL about for me now.

Today, probably the pen and paper, with the paper notebook are not (sadly) used as much as it was in past years - having been replaced by technological advancements made with personal computer systems. Yet it is true to mention that either faced with a blank piece of paper or a keyboard, with a monitor showing just a blank screen, once you start using that pen, or tapping those keyboard keys, then your thoughts will start to flow - allow your thoughts take over, and your mind and body will begin to relax. Believe me... just try it & let your mind free to wander. When you are finished, remember, proofing & editing your work helps to present the grammar much better before it is out there.

This final image just sums everything for me. I invest much time & energy in my photography and content writing...

- Content writing may not make you rich or provide you with a steady income every month with which to feed & clothe yourself, neither will it confirm to pay your mortgage or rent for you. But what it will do, and most certainly does for me, is it will provide that solid base from which to let your inner 'pressure valve' release pent-up emotion and smothered imagination unleash upon the world - no longer with a gag covering your mouth or your thoughts.

I write and take photograhps with my camera, as my daily occupation now, because it provides for a new way of living for me now. I am no longer constrained by letting my physical disabilities run amock with me, after having been through Cancer, a Road Traffic Collision, or even Covid-19 in 2020 - taking photos & using imagination to freely write is mentally good for me. I am indeed writing a science fiction novel which I hope will be ready for publication in just a year from now. But even more, all my invested time in these engrossing fields take time, effort, and with everything, finance to keep you going forward... simple things due through 'wear & tear', or just wanting to break free of Government Benefits and sustain your own prominence in this world - and that starts with 'Believing in Yourself' that you can do it.

The support of my wife throughout all this and the support of fellow content writers on Vocal, but we all need a continuing flood of both money and support, to make anything work.

Now I better end here and go clean up the kitchen before the plates get up and walk out of the house! Remember, writing is a very beneficial form of relaxation therapy but, try not to do what I do - forget the house cleaning & the garden in the meantime.

- Being a content writer can turn you into a hermit or not. It is about gaining a rewarding balance between the two. Creating that 'balance' means structuring your day - and that is surely a good thing for all of us?

- Certainly, I have chosen to not be the hermit here. As you can see for yourself from my photos (above) my content writing comes from my past professional knowledge, and from my enjoyment of photography - so I get out a lot and use the nature around us - not letting my reduced mobility place too many restrictions upon me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you have enjoyed this. Please read and click the heart after reading. Anyone choosing to tip me, well, thank you so much for your generosity and kindness shown by this - hearts are great but tips help me succeed and do better but remember they are not obligatory.

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