On Thanksgiving Day my new neighbor brought over a dish filled with their Thanksgiving feast to share. In the four years of living here, that has not happened, so I was touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity. They have surmised I live alone, but don’t know very much about me, so I typed them a letter.
The letter painted a picture of where my life has evolved to since they moved in. They’ve not met my daughter because she had already moved out, but told them if they noticed a black Jeep in the driveway, that would be her. This morning I took their dish back filled with home baked goodies. It’s proper to return the dish, but Mama always said, “Never return the dish empty.”
I rang the doorbell, dish in hand and the wife opened the door. She was surprised, but happy to see me standing there as I thanked her for sharing their meal and handed her the dish. We talked for a minute and then she exclaimed, “Are you a writer?!” I smiled and admitted, “Yes, I am, but have actual jobs for income.” She seemed disappointed, like her glamourous vision of me living here alone and writing all day long was crushed. Trying to understand, she asked, “So, writing is your side gig?”, and I replied, “Writing is simply my gig.”
You see, I’m always writing. Whether it a weekly newsletter for one of my jobs, leaving a comment on someone’s post in our Circle community, returning an email, or messaging with my Team, my fingers are constantly moving across the keys. There’s a whole realm of writing as a part of my work, but the magical part of writing occurs pen to paper. The most loved writer appears when writing the morning pages, or a note to mail to a friend, that’s my heart song and of course, pounding the keys of the typewriter is absolute heaven for any writer.
It’s difficult to explain ‘being a writer’, as I speculate it has different meaning for each of us, but I believe we all have a writer in us. My writer shows up in every aspect of my life and the writer brings an extra sparkle to my eyes, a spring in my step and a mischievous grin to my lips. You’ll know you’re standing in the company of a writer, because as you’re talking, they’re typing in their head.
Inbarbsworld 
I think it’s hard for non writers to get what we do. They think of the writing they may have done in school growing up or something more flashy like they see in a movie or in a Hallmark Christmas movie … but they don’t always understand. For me, the defining line is pretty simple. If you pause to consider word choice and how it will go over with the reader, than you’re a writer. Ha, ha.
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Thank you Brian. Excellent analogy! 🥳
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I’m always a reader. Annoyingly so.
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The amount you read is inspiring. To be a good writer take being a good reader. 💖
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Completely agree.
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I believe anyone asked to describe you, who knows you, would say writer first. To us that’s who you are. The rest is just stuff. 🤍
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Awww….Thank you lovely. So sweet! 💖
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Nailed it, Barb!
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Thank you, Donna. 🔨
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Hi Barb,
I love that you wrote a letter and shared some of your life with your neighbors!! That was kind of them to share food. And I agree, never return a dish empty.
I wish to emulate you and write more, as I did in the past (before I had a blog). Now I read more than I write. I go through so many blogs post, reading everything from poems to recipes.
You are inspiring me to write more often 🙂
Blessings to you!
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Hey Ana and thank you! The weather hasn’t cooperated for us to stand outside and talk to get to know one another, so it made sense to drop them some basic info. Good for you lovely reading other peoples blogs! I cannot read through many, but I’ll curl up with a book in a heartbeat. I’m happy you feel inspired! Thank you and many blessings! 🙏
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