Love Letter

I’m following the #dosummerwrite prompts from the Instagram account Well-Read Black Girl (@wellreadblackgirl) to bring a more mindful approach to my writing practice, both personally and professionally. I hope to learn things about myself, my flavors of creativity, and how I want to write. Hopefully, you’re encouraged to dig into who you are as well. The prompt I’m following is to answer the following question:

3/31 Love Letter – Why do you love what you do, anyway? Write a love letter to the creative activity, you are most passionate about.

Dear Storytelling,

I think your real name is maladaptive daydreaming. Maybe your first name is ‘slightly’ because as long as I’ve known you, I’ve been distracted by this vision and these places that I wanted to go, but I was still able to do my work or get through my classes. However, when I look back at my dreams and ideas, I’ve always wanted to stop time or just stop in general so that I could really breathe and take a look at myself. I wanted to create a safe place as a black girl that was compared to cream-filled cookies, a safe place for a black girl who in her search to be anything wanted to try everything, a safe place for a black girl to heal from her trauma, a safe place for a black girl to pause from all the rushing and racing. Maybe your name is only storytelling in the way that you name a descendant junior, because one day I specifically heard that you also liked to call yourself Ebony Xscape. Through that name, you showed me that I could try anything. You gave me a name, a place, and a command. A name of a character that I could work myself out through, a place where I could heal and rest, and a command to leave all the things that didn’t serve me and threatened to suffocate me. You gave me hope. You showed me that you could show up in a variety of forms, whether you be dressed as an animation, artwork, a song, or a book. You kept tempting me to stare into space and see beyond the world in front of me to places I could only dream of. You kept coaxing me to write like I was possessed and even when the ideas wouldn’t come, you still waited patiently for me to jot down ideas, even if it was just one sentence. You’ve always been there, a coping mechanism built on morals, fantasy, afrofuturism, fairytales, and justice. I’m so glad you’re in my life and I’m just as happy to see how others love you as I am to add my own stories to the mix. I didn’t ask where we were going and you didn’t ask “why me?” We just went and continue to go wherever we please, not judging what we make or what we come across. You are somehow an expansive and intimate type of freedom, something I can always fall back on. Thank you for always being around and for being yourself.

Sincerely,

Jessica Mack

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I hope that my love letter to storytelling has encouraged you and inspired you. Take your time to write a letter to your own creative activity or passions. Keep creating and keep xscaping!