🌟 “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird I love this quote; it's so refreshing. It takes all the pressure off and gives you the space to create, explore, and play. This book is overflowing with gems. Definitely worth a read.👌

One of the hardest parts of writing is allowing yourself to be seen. A lot of writing stays on the surface because vulnerability feels risky. It’s much harder to write something honest enough that someone else might recognize themselves in it. But that’s where the strongest writing usually comes from. 🌟Not perfection. Recognition. That feeling of: “I’ve felt this before.” 👨🏻‍🦳 Ernest Hemingway once said: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” 👨🏻 And C.S. Lewis wrote: “We read to know we are not alone.” Those ideas connect. The writing that stays with people is usually the writing where someone risked being honest. Not necessarily dramatic. Not necessarily autobiographical. Just emotionally true. 🌟 The idea that truth in art often comes from saying the thing people normally avoid saying out loud. Readers can feel that. They can feel when a writer is holding back… and they can feel when they aren’t. That doesn’t mean sharing everything. It just means being willing to go a little deeper than what feels comfortable sometimes. Curious how other people think about this. Do you find vulnerability difficult in your writing?

(excerpt from my book) Love is a drug. And perhaps it is the most terrible of all drugs, because unlike actual drugs, this one won’t kill you. …Usually, at least. It will just rip your soul out from inside of you, tie it into a knot, and beat you up with it until you wish you were dead. And because of that, we keep pursuing it. Because we’re all addicts. ... I’ve loved my children. Both the born and the unborn. Equally, though the latter with much more pain, and the former with a lot more frustration. Somewhere along the way I may have even loved myself for a moment of delirium. But then I met myself. And then, like every love before, I lost myself again. And like every love before, it refuses to die completely. For our addiction, there is no “Lovers Anonymous”.

I wasn't sure which category to place this. If there's a more suitable category than General, let me know and I'll move it (and future posts like it) there. This is a poem I've written for my book. Feels like a perfect poem to use as an introduction, especially as I find myself a stranger in a new community. Thank you all for having me!

Welcome! Introduce yourself. - You can use this simple format: Hey! My name's____. I'm from______. For fun I like to_______. & let us know what you're working on! 😉