by Rahim Said
Writing serves as a powerful means of expressing our thoughts, opinions, and ideas, connecting with others, and leaving a lasting legacy on this planet for generations to come.
It is a remarkably accessible form of communication, available to most individuals regardless of their circumstances, except for those who are illiterate.
Even in the most challenging environments, the act of writing can be a lifeline for everyone.
For example, on a deserted island, simply inscribing an S.O.S message in the sand could lead to the rescue of a shipwrecked sailor.
In a war-torn zone, using a piece of charcoal to write on the walls of a ruined building may serve a similar purpose.
In more recent and tragic scenarios, children in war-torn areas like the Gaza strip have resorted to writing their names with markers on their chests to aid in their identification in overcrowded morgues For these children, it may be the only word they would ever write, marking their short existence on Earth.
In the past, before the advent of modern technology, writers, poets, novelists, and playwrights, like Shakespeare who produced voluminous amount of plays in his time, needed quills, ink, and paper to transform their ideas into creative works.
It often took days, months, or even years for their messages to reach a wider audience. The invention of the printing press in later centuries revolutionized the distribution of their work, making it accessible to the masses more rapidly.
Today, in the digital age, writing is at our fingertips. With just a mobile phone, you can instantly share your thoughts on various platforms and through social media.
Millennials, in particular, have no excuse not to write and share their ideas with the world.
If you are reading this, you are not stranded on a deserted island or trapped in a war zone like the children of Gaza whose life would likely end in the morgue with only one word printed on their chests; their names.
You have the freedom to express your opinions, share them without limitations, and publish on the web with relative ease, leaving your mark on the digital landscape for all of eternity.
Reflecting on my own experiences during lockdown, I realized the importance of documenting my challenges, trials, and tribulations. By sharing my words, I hoped to help others overcome their own predicaments. I have done that with some degree of success, as I have shared with you in these pages.
After two years of writing for Newswav, I have written a daily column of around 500 words, often producing multiple columns in a single day.
That’s an average of 15,000 words per month or 180,000 a year. It’s incredibly amazing when you make a habit of doing something like writing consistently every day.
Over the last two years, it’s a whopping 360,000 words. I never thought I would last a week when I first started writing during the COVID-19 lockdown. But I am not done yet. I am still here, clicking away on my mobile phone, hoping to write more in years to come.
These columns are now securely stored on a news aggregator cloud, having been viewed by over five million people in the last two years.
I believe I have effectively left my digital footprint to mark my journey on Earth, all without a pen or a single sheet of paper.
I relied solely on my index finger, typing away day and night on my mobile phone.
Using the cut and paste function, I uploaded my words to news platform with ease. I would like to encourage you to do the same on any platform to mark your life’s journey on Earth.
The power to make a difference with the written word is literally at your fingertips.
Going by statistics available on the web, people send 16 million text messages and 156 million emails every minute of the day. These are expected to grow even higher as social media users increase.
Undoubtedly, writing is a potent tool for articulating thoughts, opinions, and ideas, forging connections, and creating a lasting impact for generations to come. Embrace the tools at your fingertips, tapping into the vast audience eager to engage with your thoughts.
In addition to X (formerly known as Twitter) Instagram, Facebook, and other social media applications, venturing into column writing stands out as a more sensible route to reach a broader audience.
Rahim Said is a human behaviourist and a regular contributor on digital media platforms. He is a professional management consultant, a corporate trainer and an executive coach specialising in coaching of senior executives and individual entrepreneurs with the purpose of modifying their behaviour in the pursuit of their cherished missions.
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