By the students of Writer’s Lab, Fall 2025
I write when the sun rises each morning,
with only my ideas and the birdsong for company
I write before I can think better of it
I write when my foster cat is purring on my lap
I write when I have read a lot of bad books recently
and want to change that
I write because it keeps me from boredom
I write because I enjoy it,
and because it helps me do something with my creativity
I write because the world is beautiful,
and I want to add to it
I write for the sake of writing
I read because I want to see other worlds
I could never think of
I read after I have spilled out too many words
and need to fill my mind again
I read so as to test out beliefs like new shoes in the store,
deciding whether they hold weight
I read to see the world in a new way
I read to learn new Dungeons & Dragons rules
I read for enjoyment, but it is definitely not the only reason:
I also read for education and inspiration
I read whenever the sun doesn’t shine
I read if my cat is asleep and I have nothing better to do
I sing for my cats to get annoyed at me
when they’re simply trying to sleep
I listen because I like to learn other people’s perspectives
I hike for shall I not I’ll grow weak
I sneeze when I’ve thought of a great idea but don’t know how to communicate it;
so I just sneeze it out instead
I imagine to use my brain and make myself think
I create because I want the world to have more nice things
I act when I must see what it feels like to be a different person
I fall and wonder if it feels much different from flying
Photo by Mehdi Sepehri on Unsplash