Michael T. Hare

Storytelling is a form of self-expression, and it’s been with me for over five years. Just the other day, I was walking along the road outside my house. A thin film of mist blanketed the ground, hovering between the trees and concealing the mountaintops. Beautiful, right? It’s been almost ten years since my last spring in New Hampshire, so this is pretty new to me.

Nevertheless, the raw beauty surrounding me got my writer’s brain working. I didn’t even have a story! All I knew was that I needed to express what I was feeling. I needed to… invest in it. As a writer, the urge is almost too much to bear because, try as we might, writing takes work and can’t be done in that fleeting moment of inspiration.

Despite this, I would never trade writing for another path. My expression comes out through stories, meaningful stories filled with laughter, adventure, and mystery. Sure, it isn’t always easy, but no road worth taking ever is—we can thank our dear friend The Hiker for demonstrating that.

Let this be a little encouragement to you, traveler. We may encounter difficult or overwhelming situations in life, even regarding things we love and cherish, such as writing. But we can’t let those trials blind us to the truth: that what we love is worth chasing through the storm.