Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor

They say to learn to fly, a bird must first leave a nest. I have been flying through words. I have been learning to break words open, to get at their bones and deal with words as though they were air. I am also learning to find not only how words get their meaning, but how they gain their power. If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you. It’s for this reason, writing is survival for me.

Bits of the words above were from the late great Toni Cade Bambara. I was reflecting on an interview she gave where she noted that writing to her was an act of discovery, a form of dreaming to. She writes because she wants to share what she has knowing that it may save someone. Writing too is an act of communion, one where I hope the reader joins in their own act of discovery as they navigate all that world has to offer. I would never trade this writing for anything and if writing is all that I have left, I will still write. Find your reason for writing and be like a bird.