Writing Is About Time In A Way That's Different From Everything Else

Unlike other forms of art, writing is not something that happens all at once. It's not like drawing or sculpting where you can do it for hours and hours on end, only stopping to get up and stretch your legs, maybe take a snack break. Writing is more like cooking: in order to make something good, you have to be patient and pay close attention to what's going on in the kitchen.

Writing is all about time—and so is reading! When you're reading a book or an article or anything else that someone has written down on paper (or screen), there's an implied contract between reader and writer that says "I'm going to give you my time right now," which means that when I'm reading, I'm saying "I trust that this person has put in the time required to write this piece well enough for me."

Writing isn't just a way of communicating—it's a way of being seen. When we write something down, we're giving ourselves over completely: we're saying "This is what I think" or "This is who I am" or even just "This happened." And when we read that writing, we're also promising ourselves that we'll give it our full attention as well—even if it takes us longer than expected.

It's an incredible thing, really: when you write something, you are making a promise to yourself and to anyone who reads it. You will commit your time and your energy and your attention to the words on the page. And when those words are read by someone else, they are making the same commitment. They are promising themselves that they will give their full selves over to understanding what you were trying to say—even if it takes them longer than expected.

It's not just a matter of effort: reading takes more time than watching a video, because you have to take more time to process the information and make sense of it in your head. But even if you could speed-read through all of your favorite books at once, there's still something about immersing yourself in a text that makes reading feel like an experience. It's almost like being transported into another world for a while—a world where anything can happen, where people are real but not real at the same time.

The truth is that time isn't the same for everybody. It moves faster for some people than for others; there are some people who have more of it than others; and then there are those who are so busy with their lives that they barely have time to breathe (much less write). But when you write something down and share it with someone else, even if that person is yourself, you've made an agreement with yourself to honor your own time by taking care of whatever needs attention next—because ultimately, all writing comes down to honoring the time we spend on this world.

In Conclusion

It's easy to lose yourself in the moment while writing. You can get lost in the process of creation and forget time is passing at all. But then you have to stop, and suddenly you're thrown back into reality where everything happens so quickly and there are so many other things demanding your attention.

The thing is: writing is about time in a way that's different from everything else. Writing is about taking time to gather your thoughts, commit them to paper (or screen), and then share them with someone else—and ideally all three at once! That's because writing doesn't just take up time—it also gives back time by making sure you're focused on what matters most right now.

Writing forces us to slow down and think before we act. It encourages us to be thoughtful rather than reactive; intentional rather than reactive; proactive instead of reactive. In other words: writing helps us get our priorities straight so we can move forward with confidence.

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