A Note of Encouragement

“So this, I believe, is the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

After I had posted our first pictures of traveling to Yellowstone on Facebook, my great-aunt Myrna messaged me. She told me that she loved the pictures and the way I told the stories behind them. Then she encouraged me to write in more detail about our experiences because she enjoyed learning of the beautiful places that she had never been to.

As a closet-writer, dreamer of sorts, this was all the encouragement I needed! It took a couple more years before I finally got around to checking out the blogging world. So many doubts flooded my mind. What if people didn’t like my writing style? How could I compete with writers such as Elizabeth Gilbert, Jack London, Jane Austen, and Ernest Hemingway? These authors that I had purported to near god-like status?! The way they weaved their stories so flawlessly, using just the right words, tempo, humor and style. How could I ever compete with the likes of these literary giants??

While lying in bed, pondering the dilemma of comparisons one morning, I had a revelation… what if I just wrote from my heart? Our friends and family would learn of our travels and most wouldn’t care if I made a grammatical error, or could have written with more “style”. Writing is an art, plain and simple. There are artists who paint pictures that I wouldn’t give two cents for and they are making millions! Then, there are poets who never get credit for their beautiful and compelling poetry until they’re dead! Who am I to judge?

With that revelation, I released myself from the need to be “perfect”, which I attribute to a fear of failure; a fear that had kept me paralyzed for years. The blogging world gives anyone with the desire to express themselves via the written word, a platform for self-expression.

After I began writing my blogs, I looked around at other bloggers’ articles. Such a wide, diverse and multi-faceted collection of writers are producing interesting and thought-provoking pieces on any subject one can imagine! Just as the most famous artists from all creative genres; music, drama, writing, poetry and art have their own style and attract admirers the world over, so do these authors of blogs.

Before the internet took center stage, most writers with the desire to be “published” would need to invest much more time and money into launching their writing careers. Now, the risk is virtually non-existent. Even if this blogging thing ends up being an inexpensive hobby, I will have no regrets. I’ve enjoyed the creative outlet… cultivating and growing my mental word bank. I find that personally rewarding!

So, thank you Aunt Myrna, my husband, Phil, and daughter, Audrey, who are always offering encouragement and believing in me. If you are feeling the desire to write from your own vantage point, your experiences, thoughts or ideas, I encourage YOU to just put the pen to paper or place your fingers on the keyboard and start plucking away! Don’t let the inner doubts keep you from expressing yourself. One can’t succeed if one never tries… Good luck and God Bless! – Lori