We Write to Taste Life Twice

Life is chaotic. From concerning world events to an increasingly overwhelming load of personal responsibilities, life can feel messy and even suffocating. Through all this chaos, we need something that helps us find meaning. 

For years, writing has been the solution for humans to cope with the disordered ways of life. Writers, simply living and dreaming, have created works of art and personal pieces that grasp the paradigm of the human experience throughout nearly all of human history.

Writing is one of humanity’s most beautiful inventions, serving as a bridge that captures small moments that define bigger things. There’s William Shakespeare, the famous playwright and writer who often meditated on the ability of being “eternal” through the existence of his writing.  There’s Virginia Woolf, a renowned feminist author who used her writing as a vehicle to advocate for women’s rights and peace. And there is Agatha Christie, the author who mastered the art of mystery and introduced many to it. 

Through words, those who might have been otherwise forgotten are still remembered, and the concepts that stay put in the darkest corners of our soul have been given light. Writing is so important to our existence as human beings. 

Apart from capturing the humanity in all of us, writing is capable of so much more. It gives silent thoughts the ability to become full-fledged revolutions. It has been at the center of the biggest debates in human history.

Essentially, what I’m trying to say is that writing is fundamental for our existence because of everything that it offers us. But apart from the history and lessons centuries of writing has given society, writing can be life-changing for any individual that practices it. 

Journaling is a common practice that numerous mental health professionals recommend to their patients to help them cope with their challenging emotions. 

When you write with no constraint, placing words to the feelings you don’t understand can bring you to an unexpected understanding. And even if that’s not the case, you’ll get to know yourself better when you come back and read what the previous version of yourself was feeling at that moment in time. 

Writing can be a way for different versions of yourself to communicate with each other, reminding you of lessons and showing you what the past you needed and how the present you might need the same thing.  

I first heard the quote “We write to taste life twice” from an interview that featured Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator of Fleabag. However, it was originally said by Anaïs Nin, a French-Cuban-American diarist and writer who actually said “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” 

I really love this quote, because I think it perfectly encapsulates what it means to write. Whether you write from inspiration or emotion, writing lets us relive the moments that were big enough to lead us into creating art, connecting with ourselves, and sharing our thoughts and dreams with the universe. 

Writing is the only thing that goes against the fleeting nature of time and lets us leave the creative or emotional fragments that those who were here before us have left. It’s the gentle reminder that in all eras of humanity, we exist, we feel deeply, and there is always something worth saying. 

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