Writing is a luxury

November 20, 2025

Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard.

David McCullough

Writing is a luxury. Let me explain. When you write, it means you have three things: time, acuity, and wisdom.

Time is perhaps the most scarce resource any of us has. Time to sit down quietly, form your thoughts, and transcribe them. Most people don’t have the time in the day. They are working to survive. To make it another day. If you have time to write, it’s a blessing.

Writing requires acuity to synthesize and distill into words what matters to you. It means you have some level of cognitive capability, and (in theory at least) that your brain is lucid.

Finally, writing implies you have wisdom that you’ve accrued over the decades, through the joys and sorrows of life, that you’re willing to share with others. That you’ve been through this school of life, and have the scars to show it.

Writing is a gift that you can give to others who are in search of something you may have. I’d like to believe my writing will reach my kids some day, when they are ready to receive. For now, I’ll be grateful that I can keep sharing my words one day at a time.