Chocolate, writing, breathing.... necessary to sustain life!

A few days a week, I stumble out of the house before I'm fully awake.  My hair is pulled back in the ugliest pony-tail you've ever seen.  I don't bother with makeup and I'm lucky if my clothes match.  I'm on my way to water aerobics.

I don't do it because it's something I particularly like.  In fact, I'd much rather stay home and read a book or knit some socks.  But I go because it's good for me.  And because I'm a self-professed chocoholic.

Writing is just the opposite.  I'm not sure it's an activity that is physically good for me, but it sure helps my attitude toward life!  When I don't write, I get cranky.  When I do write, I'm more relaxed and feel that I've accomplished something.

I go to the gym because it's what I need to do.  Sort of like paying bills.  To me, it's a necessary evil.  

I write because, as William Kent Krueger once said, "I can't NOT write."  It's all I've done my entire life -- from keeping a diary (which I'm sure Heather read!) to working on the school paper and yearbook to joining the military JUST to work on the base newspapers.  No part of my life has been without writing.  It's as much a part of me as breathing.

What about you?  For writers, why do you write?  If writing isn't your thing, what do you live to do?  I want to know!

Blessings!

Nichole