The Tao of Writing (or ANYTHING)

A few days ago, I randomly decided to go to the bookstore to see what I could find. While aimlessly perusing, I stumbled across the book "The Tao of Writing" by Ralph Wahlstrom. A lightbulb in my head switched on..
This looks interesting.
I was right.

In the first segment, Wahlstrom addressed how "most people in approaching a writing task write against the flow, constantly bumping up against and trying to overcome the rocky rules of writing".

In other words, many people struggle with ideas and language because the need to be "correct" outweighs the desire to be genuine, creative, and expressive. I can agree with this notion, for I admittedly dread writing assignments. In approaching formal papers, an indescribable stress brews in my head, which typically leads me down the all-to-familiar path of procrastination. However, because I do love writing (and the idea of actually finishing college), I can usually break free of the "writers funk" to get the assignment completed.

Even then, I rarely feel like thoughts freely transcribe from my brain to the paper. There's usually a net that filters anything outlandish, incoherent, or gramatically incorrect. Even when writing for my own eyes, I toil over the mechanics of writing, syntax, diction, and punctuation. This is because I've been conditioned and trained throughout my whole life to adhere to the rules of producing good essays.

After leaving the bookstore, I drove home and listened one of my new favorite songs.

I dig my toes into the sand

The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds

Strewn across a blue blanket

I lean against the wind, pretend I am weightless

And in this moment, I am happy. Happy

-Incubus

You may tire of me as our December sun is setting because I'm not who I used to be. No longer easy on the eyes but these wrinkles masterfully disguise who turned your way and saw something he was not looking for: both a beginning and an end. But now he lives inside someone he does not recognize when he catches his reflection on accident -Deathcab for Cutie

Musicians make the most abstract song lyrics seem so beautiful, familiar, and oddly relatable. Perhaps they abandoned the "rules" of writing, and allowed the raw, unhampered ideas to flow out of them.

With that thought, I'll leave you with one of Wahlstrom's reflections:
"When we try to force the writing, we often end up with uniteresting, barren, joyless text. When we tap into the flow, we are likely to find ourselves carried along on a joyful, creative, fulfilling stream".