Why I Write

Why I Write

Dear friend,

I want to write you a letter about why I write:

Today morning while brushing my teeth at my apartment in Hanoi, I thought about George Orwell’s essay: “Why I write.” Orwell wrote 1984, one of the books that had the most influences on me. Orwell foretold a world where a dictatorial government would be watching your every move— where your privacy didn’t exist (kind of like today’s digital world with Google/Facebook/Government spying), and how humans would lose individual freedom.

George Orwell mixed with Aldous Huxley (who wrote ‘Brave New World’ — a world where people have ‘freedom’ — but are just entertaining themselves to death with mindless entertainment and taking ‘soma’ (a drug that makes them feel good) are the two authors who had the strongest impact on me as a high schooler— and shaped my world-view. I was always skeptical of technology, and the influence on the human soul.

What I love about both Orwell and Huxley is they didn’t write for creating entertainment. They were both social critics— who wanted to enact social change through their writing. They believed in the human soul, spirit, and freedom. And I know certainly they have inspired me to write about things which are important to society and being a human being.

For me, I write to empower others. I know there is a lot of pain and suffering in the world, so I endeavor to write a few lines, blog posts, books, and poems to uplift your soul. Even as you’re reading these words— I’m not sure if you’re reading it on your phone, your laptop, tablet, or where you are — whether you are in a bus, at work, waiting in line at the grocery store, or in the subway — but I write to help motivate you to become the best artist you can be.

I think you have a gift. A gift that already exists in you. It is like a little ball of white energy— you just need to realize it is already in you, and it is for you to unlock it. I just want to help aid you in the process of self-discovery.