By Ande Jacobson

I’ve kept a journal since I was a child, although in recent years I’ve not made many entries. In some ways, the essays I write have taken its place helping me delve into things that I’m thinking about. Sometimes that means writing up thoughts on books I’ve just read or delving into a concept that intrigues me. Often though it involves taking a step back from current events and sorting out something that’s bothering me. That last category has covered a lot of ground over the last several years. Along with an increased focus on politics and the historical significance of various policies and actions, it drove me to add a history and politics page to my commentary library.

We’re living through a deeply troubling period in history right now as the US federal government has taken a very dark turn embracing not democracy, but authoritarianism. Over the last several years, various historians like Heather Cox Richardson, Joanne Freeman, and Timothy Snyder have commented that when they entered their field of study, they thought they’d be combing through historical records, not recording daily actions of great historical significance in real time. It’s much more stressful to be living through tumultuous times than studying them many years hence. Part of what they study are the writings of leaders and important historical figures, but they also read writings from regular people just living their lives. In that, we can all contribute to the historical record.

Newspapers, magazines, television, and radio shows cover the news stories of the day. They capture the more visible events, although with increasing regularity, the corporate news entities aren’t necessarily reporting the facts or even all of the important stories. They are reporting on things that generate sales and entertain while too often appeasing the governmental leadership to curry favor rather than serving to inform.

Now with the advent of the internet, regular people can also make their thoughts known through their writings on social media, personal websites, newsletters, and so forth in much greater numbers than ever before. More and more, these independent sources are providing a lot of the news coverage that corporate media has dropped. And for the writers presenting their observations on what’s happening around them, they not only contribute to the historical record in greater numbers than ever before, they have a potentially therapeutic tool to make their voices heard beyond their immediate sphere of influence.

Most importantly though, writing about what’s important to each of us can help bring awareness to all sorts of situations that were previously hidden. That awareness can spawn positive action. It can also create community in a positive way. With social media, personal websites, and the like, writers can engage with people all over the world on pretty much any topic that interests them.

Writing can be an effective way to sort out our thoughts which in itself can be therapeutic. It can also help us learn. For instance, a few years ago I was intrigued by something I read in one of the books I reviewed. The author included a discussion of how one’s reality was dependent on their ability to perceive. That simple concept can be observed by every individual as they grow from childhood into adulthood, but it goes well beyond a particular species’ reality. Different species experience very different realities based on their size, senses, and general acuity. I explored this and more in an essay entitled, What is reality? Researching the topic was fascinating, and writing about it helped me process the information in a productive way.

Most of my history and politics essays grow out of events and topics that are bothering me in some way. Digging deeper into them allows me to both figure out what is bothering me and process it, but more importantly, writing about it also often helps me to do something constructive about it. Sometimes that something is merely to help explain it and raise awareness. Other times, it inspires me to take a more active action to address the situation. That’s the therapeutic part because it helps me move beyond the concern and helplessness that I sometimes feel. Even when there’s no specific action I can take beyond raising awareness immediately available to me for myriad reasons, it helps to calm my mind.

My music and theater essays are in an entirely different category. Music has always been an important part of my life, and writing about the arts specifically extends that creative endeavor allowing me to share it much more broadly. The same is true for my growing short story collection. Writing fiction allows me to take a break from all of the trials and tribulations of our complicated everyday world and build off of my imagination for a time. In other words, my arts-related writing provides a healthy respite.

Most of all though my writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, is a crucial creative endeavor. I don’t write for an audience necessarily, although I certainly enjoy discussions that are inspired by something I’ve written. I write because for me it’s an important method of communication. I have something to say, and writing allows me to think it through more thoroughly than is possible in an active conversation. In that I’m reminded of something a friend told me many years ago about how my writing was received when I was publishing mostly theater reviews and arts commentary. He said that the comments he heard most often were along the lines of people enjoying my writing and saying that they found me far more palatable in print than in person. Although that was somewhat of a backhanded compliment to be sure, it told me that my efforts were appreciated in some way.

I’m the type of writer who goes through multiple revisions before anyone but me sees what I’ve written. That’s something that my college fiction-writing professor mentioned, i.e., that I greatly benefit from revision. It’s true. My first drafts are generally very rough and unpolished. It’s through the polishing process that I am able to pull my thoughts together in a cohesive way.