Why Write?

One day I had a very brief (thankfully) moment of self pity because no one had "liked"any of my posts in a closed Facebook group I am a part of. It stopped when I asked why I posted on the forum. I did not post to get applause, or likes--I posted hoping that my resource would provide some kind of uplift for the potential readers. It would educate them, or encourage them or remind them of an important truth. However, this entire train of thought got me thinking as to why any of us display our creations in a public forum. Why do we sing songs and play musical instruments in front of others? Why do we invite others to read our writing? Look at our drawings? View our photos? Do we sing, dance, write, paint, photograph for ourselves or for others?

I think the answer is truly the "Yes" we all joke about. We do create for ourselves--it is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to cause something to come into being that wasn't there before. A work of art did not exist until the artist came along and created it--and it is unique to that artist--our visions are unique to our selves. Yet, there is something in us that wants to show it to others. Sometimes it is for altruistic reasons: we think it will add to the community new ideas and serve to build up everyone. Sometimes it is because we like to hear the praise of others. Sometimes we actually benefit materially from the fruits of our creative labors. Sometimes we do it because we like the challenge of our work going out into the world meeting the opinions of others.

Anyone who creates and puts their work out in public has to recognize all the motives, pure and not so pure, that stand behind the action of putting their creation out there before the world.