Sometimes the road finds you before you find it. It can be extremely difficult to find which direction you want to go in when making decisions about your career, your living situation, and your relationships. I continually find myself feeling overwhelmed by the difficulty of processing these kinds of decisions, and confused about what actions to take, but here is one practice that has always granted me clarity and confidence in these situations: writing. It seems simple enough to write out your thoughts, so like me you might often assume that doing so would not be any different from talking to yourself in your head. This is where you would be making a sorely incorrect assumption. Every time I’ve sat down in front of my keyboard and typed out my thoughts, I’ve been surprised and comforted by the organized and clear thought processes that appear on the page. Why is it that writing allows for a level of articulable thought that talking to yourself could never achieve? Perhaps it’s due to the fact that when you speak, each word disappears as quickly as it’s been spoken, but when you write, each word is captured and preserved. Maybe the preservation of thoughts in a linear progression–the creation of order from disorder–creates a trail for the human mind to follow so we don’t get lost in our own thoughts. The essentialness of writing to human life cannot be overstated. It captures more diligently and aptly the concepts, experiences, and emotions of our lives than any other medium. Those who write are the preservers of human experience as well as the thought-leaders of our world. This sort of power is something that many crave as they shout at someone they oppose, but when they fall quiet their message disappears despite the intensity of their passionate expression. Others quietly think to themselves as they write and organize their thoughts on a page, and although their passion is not evident as they sit in their chair and type, their message is etched into stone permanently.