I saw a Facebook comment someone had posted about a news story. The individual meant to say that someone had “the right of way,” but, for whatever reason, it came out, “the write away.”

Maybe it was a typo that turned into an autocorrect fail, or maybe the person really thought that’s what the phrase is. It doesn’t matter. But it got me thinking.

As writers, sometimes we share our point of view, another’s point of view, we think out loud, we rant, we rave, we release, we ponder. I’d like to think that we do all these things while keeping truth at the forefront. Maybe we do, or maybe we don’t. But when we write and — in particular — when we release, we can write away the topic at hand.

Whether blogging or journaling, writing a novel or a poem, our release can be the equivalent of putting a letter in a bottle, tying a note to a balloon, or scribbling recklessly on college-ruled paper and lighting it on fire.

I write for the joy of it, for its cathartic properties and because I know that keeping things inside instead of writing them away will make me go mad.

And when we need to let it out, we owe it to ourselves to release it fully. Don’t yield to anyone, even yourself. Don’t second-guess.

You have the right of way. Take it.

Tonight, for the new perspective on the right of way, and for a typo that shed light on the truth, I am thankful.