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We were challenged to be a little crazy + declare our truths, who we are. So I did. Right on my little ring finger.
Yesterday was day three of the Flying Lessons ecourse I'm taking with a community of over 400 (I think!) amazing, creative, spellbinding women. Talk about empowering!
We've been asked to dig deep and pluck out our fears. In an act of courage, look those buggers right in the eye, give them a name, flip 'em around, and let them go. Some of us have re-named those pesky fears, turning them right side up into the real truths about ourselves.
Getting dirty with fears isn't the most comfortable way to spend a day; but Natalie Goldberg reminds us:
Don't you love that? You have to speak your truth. Write the truth.
So, the truth is: it's difficult for me to label myself as a writer. My fears yell at me and tell me that I'm not good enough, I don't have the credentials to back me up, and so no one will take me seriously.
But the real truth is: I AM a writer!
I've been a writer since I was in elementary school. I write. Daily. Without fail. Um. That kind of makes me a: writer! I've also completed that children's picture book manuscript (just awaiting my professional critiques so I can start sending out query letters to agents).
We were challenged to answer our truth when the next person asks us what we do: "I am an artist." Or "I am a writer." Or whatever it is.
Well, you haven't asked me what I am. But I'm gonna tell you. (And myself!)
GULP.
I am a writer.
I am a writer.
I am a writer.
It's what I love. And I'll be courageous. (Most of the time!)
Fantastic, love the writing on your finger. Definitely words to celebrate and enjoy!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Michelle! Thank you! :)
DeleteSo happy you came by. I just checked out your blog and website. I LOVE it. Your work is amazing. Really. SO beautiful! LOVE it. A lot!
Yep, it's official: You're a writer! Fly, baby. Fly!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melissa!! :-) :-)
DeleteCheers!
Love how you confidently declare you ARE A WRITER! Love it! I'm just starting to say those words to myself. It's nice being part of Flying Lessons group with you Becky. :)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne,
DeleteThank you. :-)
I still have yet to say it aloud. Writing is always easier for me than speaking. (I always wonder if other writers feel the same.) And yes: you ARE a writer, Suzanne! We can practice saying it.
It's great being in Flying Lessons with you, too, Suzanne. :)
Great post Becky. A courageous declaration - celebrating with you! I've just recently declared myself a writer (an exercise those of us who follow Jeff Goin's blog did). It wasn't long after I began to actually call myself a writer that I got my first article published. So Becky (and Suzanne) - YES YOU ARE WRITERS! Great to be in Flying Lessons with you both.
ReplyDeleteHi Terry,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment and also for celebrating with me.
Congratulations on getting your article published! That's brilliant!
I really am starting to think there's something to this declaration stuff. It can't be just a coincidence that after you reign in fears enough, say who you are in your bones, that things start happening.
I am going to check out Jeff Goin's blog. Sounds like a great one!
Yay for all of us writers!
Becky, I feel like you and I are kindred spirits!! This is exactly what happened with me, though it happened a little earlier in the year, in a different e-course. I realized, wow, before anything else, I wrote, and above all other things, I am most in tune with myself, and most at home, when I write. Therefore, I must see the logic! I am a writer! LOL. Really, there was as much emotion to it as you described, only you've done a better job than I did. I did mine quietly, my declaration, but I have owned it this year: I am a writer, that is my truth. It's just taken me ages to get to that because I was weighted down by so many family members being academic writers, having a certain kind of success with a certain kind of writing. i've written TOMES of journals. goodness. and I'd just begun to give up on it, the writing , and let my blog go! when I took that e-course. When the student is ready, the teacher appears eh? Good for you, brave beautiful soul!!
ReplyDeleteHey, Jessica!
DeleteAww! I know, I'm feeling so grateful and lucky we've met through this course also. I'd love to hear more about your story sometime, how you declared to yourself that you are a writer. In your bones. I love what you just wrote: "I am a writer, that is my truth." So powerful!
Academic writing is totally different from creative writing, isn't it? Those journals are super important.
I am grateful and happy that you did not give up on your writing, because then you may not have taken this course and we wouldn't have met! LOL Anyway, SO glad you're writing.
Thank you for your lovely, lovely encouraging comment!
I love this blog - i love the look of it - and what you say. Plus - you gave me an idea for a tattoo - i've been wanting to get another small one - and never thought about putting it on my finger!
ReplyDeleteHi Vickie!
DeleteThank you for leaving a comment here. :) Thanks also for the compliment about the blog + the writing. The blog is super new so it's incredibly basic, but I hope - through our course - I can learn to spruce it up a bit. Still, I do want to keep it simple.
You know, it's funny about the tattoo idea; I don't have one at all and thought I'd be too much of a wimp to get one, but now that the ink has come off my finger, I am really missing it. I've been thinking that maybe I COULD get a tattoo...on my finger...saying "writer." I say you should go for it!
:)