The Beauty of Writing for No Good Reason

Mar 19

During the earliest moments of my career (otherwise known as graduating from college with a pre-med degree I no longer intended to use and The Subsequent Panicking), I took stock of my marketable skills.

I thought about what I was good at, what I liked and what someone would pay me to do. It was like an ikigai exercise, done by a 22-year-old preparing to disappoint their parents.

In the magazine aisle at Borders decided I would be a writer. Like the next Anthony Bourdain—or, more realistically, the next intern for his publisher.

And from that moment on, I was a writer.

First, as a very junior sort of journalist, curating local events roundups, writing music reviews and interviewing the bands opening for more the famous bands. Over time, I started writing for magazines, tech startups, big brands, small brands and blogs and dove deeply into the world of content strategy. I also became the founding mother of The Midwestival, a 6-year regional culture and travel project that is still one of my nearest and dearest creative undertakings.

Writing is still a huge part of what we do for our clients at Minna, of course—but I’ve found lately that I’ve really missed writing-writing. The kind of writing that doesn’t need to serve any real purpose other than, “Because I want to.”

Writing always helps me make sense of things or see things differently—especially with ideas living in my internal world, which is a busy and somewhat lawless place. Writing gives me the ability to capture one thought, give it my full attention, layer connections in and filter noise out. Simply the exercise of writing will often bring as much clarity as the final words on the page.

So here I am writing again.

Because I want to.