Why We're Here

It’s coming up on election season in the U. S., and a large chunk of our population is currently enjoying a surprising burst of enthusiasm and hope. The reasons are, ostensibly, well documented, though a change in candidates, and celebrity endorsements, and swing state polling are certainly only partly responsible. The change has been remarkable to both watch unfold and experience in myself. Because I follow this stuff, I find myself strapped into a volatile carrousel, my mood rising and falling with the predictive trajectory of New York Times headlines and televised expert analysis.

Not long ago, that mood was decidedly gloomy; depending on who you listened to, apocalyptically gloomy, which is why I largely stopped paying attention. Elections cycle language is notoriously hyperbolic, but this year it was even more so – though, perhaps, for good reason. I’ve known this kind of end-of-the-world thinking plenty in my life without elections, and it positively drains my interest in living right out of my days. Try as I might to keep my head down, it seemed as if this fear was in the atmosphere itself, and I was just breathing it every day.

Until a few weeks ago. What I saw in the cheering crowds and smiling online pundits was the same thing I felt in myself: relief. Relief from doom and hopeless, from waking up every morning to inhale more of that toxic cloud. You will never enjoy a normal, healthy breath like you will after suffocating for months – or years, really. Many people were free to look forward to future once again, and it felt good.

If you’re a writer, pay attention. Never underestimate the power of feeling good. It’s all we want. When we feel bad, when we’re scared or angry or depressed, our world is colored in shades of grey, and we can begin to forget all the blues and reds. By all means, fill your stories with conflict. Frighten your readers, pull them to the edges of their seats as your protagonist suffers loss and failure and violence. But do so with a purpose. If you think for a moment our job in life is to merely learn how to endure what the world hurls at us, to suck it up and make do, remember those crowds or your own relief. That’s why we’re here, and how nice it is when we remember.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com