Why do I write?        

My name is Dana Isaacs, and I write to breathe. When I say I write to breathe, I don’t mean it literally. Or do I?  Have you ever thought about someone you missed, or that no one is listening to you? Don’t those things feel like you’re suffocating? Well, to me they do. Since I can remember, I’ve always missed someone whose return wasn’t certain.  It started with my mother at the young age of seven. My younger brother and I were separated from her for four years. The first year we lived with a relative, where I was basically mute due to the trauma and depression of not having my mother. We were verbally abused, and my brother was abused physically. Fortunately for my brother and I, my grandmother packed us up and took great care of us, until my mother returned.         

Then my husband. Our son Dominic was born May of 2009 and six months later, he was deported. I tried everything in my power to make things work for the first couple of years but…. It didn’t. Most recently the passing of my grandmother.  The woman who took care of my brother and I. The woman who loved my son before he was born. The woman who I considered my best friend passed away after battling four types of cancer, and I happily put my life on hold to take care of her until the end. It tore my relationship up with my family but, I wouldn’t change the way I loved and took care of her for the world. All throughout my life people would comment on how outspoken I was or am, but they’d be surprised to know how much I haven’t said. I may speak my piece, but not as much as I want and or need to. I’ve always held a lot of my feelings to myself because I don’t know how to be vulnerable. There are only 2 forms of emotion I am ok with sharing publicly. Happiness and anger, no grey in between.  So, when I create, think about something, or just want to express myself silently, I write  or jot things down. I’ve been writing and inventing since I was seventeen. My first project was a play about a dancer who fell ill and pushed herself to figure life out and continue her dream. I was able to bring that play to life while getting my Bachelors in Fine Arts. In between inventing and coming up with a saying for my Apparel line, I wrote a short film, again while in school. The film was about a college student who was in high distress with a twist of horror. I am currently writing two films, a horror and a cartoon, and I would love for them to turn into novels.  Writing becomes an emotion, which then turns into an action. Depending on the story, words and or writing can become a weapon,a gift,a hug, or even arms that lift and hold you up.  I write because I usually feel like no one is listening to me, and if they are, they’re listening to respond and criticize, not to empathize or sympathize. It didn’t take me long to realize no one wanted to hear what I had to say or care for me to express myself.

At times when I feel stifled, screaming into my pillow doesn’t always work. I have to actually pick up a pen and put my feelings on paper.