This article is written in English for international readers.
There is a well-known line attributed to the German novelist Jean Paul: “Life is like a book. Fools flip through it quickly, but the wise read it carefully, because they know they can read it only once.” It suggests that life should be lived with attention, that experience itself has value when we take the time to truly look at it.
There is, however, another way this idea is sometimes understood: that anyone can write a single book—simply by putting their own life into words.
When I first encountered this interpretation, I vaguely wondered whether I might one day write a book myself. Recently, I was diagnosed with depression and a developmental disorder, which made the reasons for my lifelong sense of difficulty much clearer. As I struggle with the challenge of sustaining employment, I find myself searching for ways to continue living at all. In that sense, starting to write this blog felt less like a decision and more like a natural progression.
If speaking honestly about one’s inner life and experiences is enough to make a book—or a blog—then perhaps that was all I could do. With disarming bluntness, I decided that since I could not judge how much value my life or inner world truly had, I would simply reveal everything. As a result, I have made public even my investment performance down to my bank savings, and I write about my inner thoughts as openly as I can. It is clearly excessive. This, too, is likely an expression of my particular traits. At this point, the only things I do not disclose are my real name, my exact location, and the details of my career.
Even so, I cannot say that writing has changed anything dramatically. Putting things into words has not erased my difficulties, nor has it guaranteed me a better tomorrow. Still, compared to the time when I stood silently without words, I feel that I can now see—if only slightly—where I am standing. And if there is someone reading this who is still unable to put their suffering into words, I believe that silence itself may be part of a book that has not yet been written.
How I have actually broken down my own life and shaped it into something tangible is recorded in full in the article linked here.
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