WE'RE ALL AMATEURS

I’m rereading Austin Kleon’s wonderful book ‘Show Your Work’ in an attempt to muster up the courage to publish this blog. For anyone else struggling with the fear of sharing your thoughts, writing, art, or anything else, I thought I’d share what I just read…

“Amateurs are not afraid to make mistakes or look ridiculous in public. They’re in love, so they don’t hesitate to do work that others think of as silly or just plain stupid… Amateurs know that contributing something is better than contributing nothing.”

So many of us are afraid to share our creations in the fear that we won’t appear smart enough, funny enough, serious enough...

And when you’re in a slump it’s almost impossible to override that voice. I know that feeling all too well. I've been in a slump ever since my memoir, Grief Girl, was published in 2007. For a number of reasons too boring to name here I decided back then that I had no talent, that I just got lucky, and that no one would want to read anything else I had to offer. So I stopped showing my work and eventually stopped writing all together.

I don’t have many regrets in life but I do regret this because it has brought me nothing but frustration and heartache.

So, in the spirit of Austin Kleon I am saying, “Screw it!”. I am going to war with that evil voice in my head that is trying to tell me that writing a blog is a waste of time, that no one will read it, that people will think I’m crazy, or worse, stupid. Yep, I’d rather be called crazy than stupid. So, here goes...

That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else.

- Charlie Chaplin