HOW IMPORTANT IS WRITING?

Last Saturday I attended a modern dance performance in Duluth and there in the middle of the audience was Lizbeth Salander! Well, not THEE Lizbeth, but a clone of the Stieg Larsson character from the novels about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The real life woman was waif thin, dressed in all black, had short straight black hair, and a distinct owl tattoo on her chest. So, how important is writing? Well, it has the power to influence a woman in Duluth, Minnesota to get an owl tattoo, dress in all black like the movie character, and, probably ride a motorcycle. Earlier this spring I saw a Lizbeth Salander look-alike riding a sport bike down Belknap Street in Superior. I wondered if Larsson, in his most optimistic moments, ever thought his writing would be influencing young impressionable women in the Twin Ports of Superior and Duluth. I'm guessing not too likely because he probably didn't really know Superior/Duluth even existed. But I'm also guessing he did write with either the secret or acknowledged hope that his words would have huge impact. And guess, what.... They certainly did. Not only on two women in the Twin Ports, but on readers worldwide. So, if you're writing, creating words, crafting a story, plotting a plot, streaming a consciousness...dream...dream...dream. Dream that your creation will somehow, someway, someday, be a powerful force for good in the world. It is a good motivation to write with the hope that what you are creating will somehow be grand, huge, big, important, significant, meaningful, loved, desired, and widely praised. Go ahead and want it all, want the best, want the highest, want most. It's a grand thing you're doing, writing.