Jennifer Belthoff

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the writer

Being a writer can be a lonely adventure

Sitting solo on the bench

Entering through door to the coffee shop alone

Sitting with your thoughts by your side

Pen and paper your only company

The camaraderie of brainstorming with others

Creating together in a group

Laughing and giggling as it all unfolds

This rarely occurs for the writer

There work must be done alone

At times it can feel daunting

Sad and terrifying

Wondering if all this sweat and tears is for anything

Inner demons creeping in

And taking over

It can be a struggle to start

Words swirling in your head

But coming out all wrong on paper

The emotion is there

But the means to pull it out has disappeared

The writer must struggle through

Show up day after day after day

Fighting their way through

Sifting through the nonsense

Drilling down to the heart in the words

From on lookers it may seem torturous

They wonder why the writer continues to show up

Why do they not choose something where they do not have to be alone

They do not realize that within that solitude hearts heal

Minds expand and gold flows from their fingertips

There are brief moments when a writer is transported

Words flowing that she did not even know where there

For that moment the world around her disappears

She is deep in this other place, this different time, this lost world

And this makes it all worth it