Prisha Khimavat

This is part of a writing challenge. Click here to read more about it.

A Writer’s Heart

She writes not to tell stories,

She writes to understand them

She writes of characters unlike herself

Not because she’s unhappy,

But rather to challenge her own perspective

She creates other worlds not to escape her own

But rather to fully experience it

She takes the topics that no one wants to discuss

And create out of them stories that no one can refuse

She creates situations unlike anything shes ever experienced

Because despite all our differences

Its our emotions that unite us.

I’d been thinking earlier today about the things I write and more specifically the poems I write as compared to the stories. Each piece I write serves a purpose, either to myself or perhaps to other people. While thinking about this concept, I started thinking about why I started writing in the first place.

Around eight grade, I was really close to a friend of mind, and due to certain circumstances, our friendship came to a screeching halt. Though at the time I was hurting and in a lot of pain, it became the event that served as a catalyst to my initial writing.

Up until this point, I had only ever written for school assignments and birthday cards. It’s not something I found myself excelling at and more importantly not something I ever considered stopping to enjoy. As I was trying to process my pain and hurt, I found certain phrases running on a loop on my mind. So, I pulled out a notebook and began writing. Soon, a phrase turned into a verse and that a poem. Within minutes I had found a way to process my feelings, and transform it into tangible piece of work that would represent exactly what I was feeling and would leave me feeling a lot calmer.

That first poem that I wrote for me, stayed just for me. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever shown it to anyone, in fact I don’t even think I own it anymore. Regardless, I found that when I was feeling overwhelmed or confused, writing poetry helped me process my thoughts and emotions. As time went on, I wrote a piece that I was really proud of so I showed it to a friend, who responded positively and that encouraged me to share it with others.

Now, almost six years later, I find myself sharing my thoughts and feelings, my opinions and thought processes on the internet for anyone with an internet connection and a device to see. When I was feeling hurt and was in pain, I never would have imagined that something so amazing could stem from something so negative. In fact, when I had first started this blog, it was called The Roses in the Ashes, representing the positives and beauty in the chaotic and destructive world that we are a part of. As I wrote more, I realized I wanted to be able to process all my emotions and feelings, not just the positive ones. I wanted to explore the roses and the ashes, all the facets of me that make me who I am. Because the truth is, I’m still figuring that out.

I don’t always know what I’m thinking or what I’m feeling, but thank goodness I have poetry and stories to help me figure it out.

~ Prisha Khimavat ~

Duration: 23 minutes and 43 seconds