Why I Write?

Autumn at Shenandoah

My husband says that I have a problem calming my mind. It's true. My mind is always rambling even to the wee hours of the night. It's a blessing because great ideas flow like a river at times and a curse because it invites unwelcomed insomnia. Ideas are much faster processed in my mind and sometimes words fail to capture my thoughts. Thus, I use photography to aid my writing.

I don't consider myself a writer. My grammar isn't perfect. My vocabulary is limited and it isn't spectacular. At times, my linking verbs do not agree, yet it isn't enough reason for me to stop blogging. I have thoughts and they need an outlet.

My blog started as a personal journal and it still is. Kayni's Corner Cafe is about my travel/personal journal and Kayni's Bone Marrow is all about my bone-marrow transplant which took place early this year.

What am I working on?

There are two things that come to mind:

Winter in Maryland 2013

Recovery. On New Year's Day, January 1st, 2014, I was admitted at the hospital to start my treatment for Aplastic Anemia. I went through ATG, chemotherapy and full-body radiation. On January 11, I received my donor's marrow and additional chemotherapy after that. After more than two months at the hospital, I am finally home trying to regain my strength. I find physical recovery easier as it can be aided with medication and exercise, but psychologically, the trauma of going through a bone-marrow transplant is a bit harder to overcome. Sometimes, I find myself going through the experience over and over again. I also get flashbacks during unexpected times of the day.

Let's just say, I am rediscovering or recovering myself, but I don't think I will ever be the same person again. Bone-marrow transplant has changed a part of me that I have yet to understand.

Homemade Rava Ladoo and tea

Baking. Recovering at home has rekindled my love for baking and cooking. I have several recipes lined up to try and the photo above was the first time I made rava ladoo. I love the smell of cookies and bread wafting through the house.

It is the people and the smell that makes our house a home. So if I haven't been blogging much lately, I'm either studying a recipe or testing a recipe in the kitchen.

How does my writing/work differ from others in its genre?

I write when I am pulled or pushed by emotions. My experiences in life are my driving force to write. There are no experiences alike. Even if two people visited exactly the same place, their opinions will vary in some way or totally. My task is to share mine.

Why do I write what I do?

Because each person has a voice and each person has a story to tell; this is mine. I'd like to think that my experiences in life can and will inspire other people. When I read a book or someone's blog, I learn about that person and that person's life and interest; that is my hope with this blog. My posts are mostly on travel and my life. Perhaps through this medium, someone can pick up a thing or two from my blog entries.

After two months at the hospital, I am finally home with our cat, Dizzy.

How does my writing process work?

I am an emotional writer. I don't have a schedule and I just write when I feel like it. My thought process works best when I am not pressured by grammar and deadlines. I love free writing. There are instances when I find my thoughts so stifling that there's a need to vent.

A light on a wintry night

So there's an insight to why I write and it's my turn to pass the baton to three wonderful women writers or bloggers.

Maricel

I was always amazed with painters and paintings.I started blogging because I was obsessed with fine art..and photography. So when I got my first point and shoot camera, it was where I put my obsession with art. I am not an artist painter, but I felt that with photography, I can freeze any moment I like to capture. Writing with photos makes me happy.

I just recently offered my photography services professionally, and I hope to capture beautiful moments of people.

http://mariqia.wordpress.com/

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Angeli

I’m Angeli Picazo, a 36-year old Filipina who has yet to make her dreams of traveling the world and learning a foreign language a reality. When I’m not on the road, my life revolves around words: I am an editor and instructional designer by profession, and, when I’m not working, I’m usually lost in a book or attempting to string words together.   I love mountains, literature, trekking, solitude, Beethoven, Bollywood, swimsuits, the agony and ecstasy of travel, the comfort and solace of family and friends.

http://www.muffledsolitude.com/

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Maria

Born and raised in Tarlac.  Grew up in a household where both Ilocano and Kapangpangan were spoken.  Graduated BS Psych.  First job was Guidance Counselor at College of the Holy Spirit in Tarlac (I loved it, but I loved my co-workers more).

http://calrat.blogspot.com/

http://pangtest.blogspot.com/

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And finally, I want to thank Loree for giving me this opportunity to look within and rediscover my love for writing and photography. Thank you sweet lady!

Loree

Lorna Dykstra (or Loree as she is known to her circle of friends) is a  pharmacist by profession. By day she works in a multi-national pharmaceutical company and by night you will find her at her desk doing what she loves best - writing. Home is the island of Malta, right in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, where she lives with her American husband and eight-going-on-eighteen year old son. She describes herself as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a dreamer, a hopeless romantic, an endless contradiction. Lorna loves the NW wind, grey skies and rough seas, golden sunsets and ancient, winding streets.  She also loves chocolate: the dark and bitter kind. Her other passions are reading, photography and baking. A bit of a gypsy at heart, she is always on the look-out for the next adventure that will take her beyond the shores of the small island on which she lives. One of her dreams is to visit all the capital cities of Europe and the fifty American States. Lorna writes more or less weekly on her blog Stories & Scribbles and occasionally on her second blog Snapshots of an Island.

http://loreeswritingspace.blogspot.fr/

http://allaboutmalta.blogspot.fr/