The writing is the result of writing, but that is all. Writing is the point. There is hope that the writing is good enough. Hope that the content is helpful, practical and, very occasionally, inspirational. But that hope is a byproduct of the process.

The verb is more important than the noun. The noun is only relevant if supported by an objective. So the noun and the objective both become hope and not the necessity of the process. The process exists for itself. It is about writing and not about the writing, which may or may not be helpful.

Taking this approach to life can be challenging. To undertake an action for the sake of the action is the anathema to modern living. We are judged for what we produce. We are categorised by the noun and the adjective. “They are an average writer”, “He is a bad actor”, “She is an excellent artist”.

And so, we target ourselves to become the noun and the adjective. We assess our self-worth on our ability to feel like we have achieved this target – and, more often than ever, on our belief that others have this view of us. We want to be seen as the noun and the adjective.

We no longer focus on the joy of the verb – the experience of the doing. We lose the sense of the experience and it becomes a forgotten part of our lives – something we no longer remember doing – we have no memory of the experience. It becomes a time unlived.

Our lives are so short why would we want time unlived?

Focus on the verb. Live.