RE: You need to give yourself permission to be a human being. Thanks for sharing such an important message. It’s strange that this was once the most obvious message in the world, before the days of social media and 24/7 news cycles.
I’d like to add that being a human also means facing the possibility of not being the one who writes War & Peace, regardless of how many writers’ workshops you take or how many million views your post gets.
When I was younger, I had to face the reality that I was not going to become the 200th best tennis player in the world, let alone #1. It was devastating to be a complete failure with no future at the age of 26.
10 years later, I played in a national senior tournament and saw some of the same high ranking players I had admired or envied when I was struggling on the tour. Guess what? They were overweight or balding or going through a messy divorce. As a matter of fact, by most measures, I was in a much better place in my life with an incredible wife and two amazing sons.
Comparison, envy, expectations, ever desire is just transitory bullish*t.
Write because it’s your one true voice. Paint because color pours out from your fingertips. Sing because it’s the only way you can breath.
And love as if your life depends on it. Because, in the end, it does.
The only thing that matters is that you fill your journey with passion and inspiration and sometimes impossible dreams.
