Sometimes life just sucks... and writing brings some relief.

I will apologize up front for my attitude today. Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try, sometimes the deck is just stacked against you? If so, you know how I feel right now. Like a salmon swimming up-stream.

And I know the drill. There are children starving in other countries, disease ripping through villages, and totalitarian governments oppressing their populations. All true. One problem. I am talking about feelings, not logic. I wonder sometimes if I am the only one, and in those moments feel completely alone.

I warned you, I'm wallowing.

To top it off, I have not found time for writing lately due to stresses at work combined with a general sense of depression about the state of... things. I'll leave it at that because this is not a political or economic blog.

As I type, I wonder if there is a way out. A path to relief. Well after writing this paragraph, I changed the title to this blog entry because I had an epiphany. In the process of writing the words above, I am beginning to feel a little bit better.

It may be a little cliche, but I don't mind as long as it is true. Expressing your feelings is a big part of healing. Granted most people aren't foolish enough to post their feelings, I mean real feelings, for the world to read on a blog, but I feel like I owe it to anyone out there feeling the same thing.

So if you feel lost in the desert, you are not alone. If you feel overwhelmed by life and the world, you are not alone. If you are struggling in writing your great work of fiction due to lack of time or depression, you are not alone.

You are not alone.

I will not give up, though I am discouraged. I will not stop, though I wish to rest. I will not shut out the world, though I wish to close my eyes.

If you are where I am, I hope you will join me in fighting the urge to give in and give up. You don't have to post it on a blog, but you need to get it out... get it down on paper. Good thing we are writers.

Feel free to comment here, write in your own blog, write in a journal, or write a story that channels your feelings. However you do it, get it down on "the page."

If you read here to the end, thank you for enduring. I hope to be in a better place next time, but I make no promises... except that I'll try.

Until then, lets keep on writing (even if it's therapy).

www.jhughthomas.com