Nadine J Walters – My Life

Question for today: How do you decide what question to ask and then what to answer?

My answer:
The questions usually come from something I’ve read, watched, heard—or sometimes just from a random thought that floats through my mind.

The answers are the easy part. For some reason, once I’ve settled on a question and start typing, the thoughts just fly. My fingers can barely keep up. Sometimes, I take mental detours, veer completely off-topic, and have to wrangle myself back to the original thread. Now that I think about it, the whole process is kind of an adventure—and one that makes me smile as I write this.

Identifying the question is actually the hardest part. I often want to sound intelligent, knowledgeable, even wise—and finding questions that make that happen? Rare. But lately, I’ve realized that the simplest, most random questions often lead to the most interesting responses from me.

And by “interesting,” I mean the kind of writing where I’m in a flow state—where the words just pour out effortlessly. This daily blog project has helped me in that way. I set a goal to write, and so I write. I no longer worry about whether anyone is reading (although thank you, truly, if you are). I’ve let go of the need to shape my thoughts into something palatable for others.

Now I just ramble, and let it take me wherever it wants to go. These posts are really just conversations I don’t usually have—with anyone. The questions matter to me, and the answers even more so. There’s no audience to impress. Not even myself. I write, edit for grammar and clarity, and then I let it go.

Every now and then, I go back and read what I’ve written. And I like it. I see myself in the words, and I remember why I responded the way I did. There’s something grounding about that.

So, in a nutshell: something out in the world sparks the question, and something inside me sparks the answer. Only then do the real thoughts make it onto the page.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m actually expressing what I really think—and of course leaving all things political behind.