Sometimes you just don’t get to choose.

Ever decide at a young age to write for decades and just keep doing it without questioning why? Then out of nowhere decide that writing isn’t your thing because people can’t see what’s inside your head with the words you are using? 

That’s me in a nutshell. At 42 years old I have decided that writing isn’t showing all the wicked cool ideas inside my head. Oddly enough one of the first rules of writing is to “Show them, not tell them.” Meaning use words to describe the action that is happening rather than explaining what is happening like in a step by step set of stereo instructions kind of way. I wanted to literally show my work so people could see what I see. It comes down to communication. The idiom saying is, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And with a well drawn picture it can convey more information than a set of polite and eloquent sets of words. It’s possible that this isn’t just me…I hope!

2 Reasons to Choose Animation over Writing:

Prefer visuals over words

• As we experience life we add connotations to the words so the word when I use it has a layer of feeling that I associate with that particular word. 
• For example, the word haunted house. I think of a real house that is one good wind blow from falling down, there is a graveyard in the backyard with creep sleepy hallow trees on the side. For other folks they may see a more cartoon version or immediately think of their first haunted house at Halloween. 
• A word invokes an image in a person’s mind eye  however, words are not as easily remembered as images or pictures.

Creative Expression

• Allows for several types of expressions: personal, social, cognitive, and therapeutic
•  Personal expression is a form that a person can use to process abstract things such as thoughts and feelings into something concrete. Using creative expression to make that abstract to concrete thing can help them to literally and visually see those abstract things that helps make sense of them. 
• Social expression allows the visual to communicate their meaning to others which can bridge gaps in understanding and communication. Art can transcend language barriers and convey information, feelings and emotions that words can not. 
• Cognitive expression can help folks to think differently and outside their paradigm leading to think about problems differently and possibly be able to problem solve. There are studies that creative expression can improve cognitive activities.
• Therapeutic expression can help some folks find their chill-lax mode. Creative expression allows for folks to express their feelings via painting, drawing, animating, so that their feelings are now outside of themselves so they are now on something else like a canvas, computer, notepad and not sitting on their chest, so to speak. The creative expression such as singing, and/or playing an instrument is done by the activity itself which is also another desired form of expression. 
• Bottom line creative expression helps folks to be more themselves by freeing them of life and never-ending adulting expectations.

Maybe you changing from writing to animating like me or maybe you are switching from writing poetry to writing songs, or switching from drawing to writing, or maybe from writing to playing an instrument. Switching from one form of creative expression to another is a good thing and never a waste of time. Expressing your authentic self through various artistic mediums can give you back your why after being lost.