recognition isn't just for your ego
"it's not that there will be no better time to develop the writing habit; there will be no other time" - Janet Burroway
I’m mostly discussing writing here… but you get the idea. It applies to anything creative (like dressing up as a wizard gnome and scaring people at malls).
YOU WRITE > YOU THINK
we all know that writing begins with thinking. we think before we write.
but overthinking doesn’t lead to writing. we need action.
jeffrey wilson says, "writing is not what you do with thought. writing is thinking."
but it goes further than that. writing leads to better thinking.
and Justice knows we need better thinkers.
YOU'RE DISCIPLINED > YOU'RE LOYAL yes, most of us are aware of "Atomic Habits," the productivity bro's capitalist manifesto. no, my good habits haven't become anything close to automatic. but i've learned that another word for discipline is loyalty. and i'm now discovering that i'm loyal to my craft, to my words, and to learning. i'm loyal to listening to words and to letting them be free.
YOU PRACTICE > YOU ENDURE I was suicidal for decades. I still want to leave the cycle of rebirth, but that's for another post. there was pain in thinking about a tomorrow that may actually come to be. especially because i didn't want to tomorrow to come knocking. it was hard to practice when i was suicidal. because i didn't want to BE. and i didn't want the future to BE. but, i realized and learned over years that if i'm stuck on this wrong-timeline planet, i might as well love it. and so, i began picking up my favorite tool again and again. writing often, sometimes daily, showed me that i can endure.
YOU FOLLOW RULES > YOU HONOR OTHERS a lot of people say the world is going to shit. which it might be. (i'm looking at you, shopify AI robot angery-making customer service chat window). that's why when i submit a piece - i actually (YES) read the rules. it's my way of honoring those who are making space for others. it's my way of doing love, of being love, of showing love for creativity. yes, it takes time. but as burroway says, there will be no other time.
YOU BUY > WE'RE ALL SUPPORTED i hated money for a long time. i protested against capital. yes, all capital. but when i sold my first design as a freelancer, when i got paid for a poem, when i hired a photographer for my family reunion, i realized that money keeps creativity alive. it's got a lot of baggage, yes, but it's a lifeline. it's one of the most important ways that we can tell someone, "i love your work. keep going."
YOU DONATE > WE ALL DREAM and along those lines, when i've donated to literary presses, or kickstarters, or open mic nights, or food banks, or musicians, or social causes, or land reclamation projects, or funeral costs, or or or... i've given a small something to a dream.
YOU EXPERIMENT > YOU RENEW every time i cook, it's an adventure. when i tell my partner, can you drive us somewhere, anywhere? it's an adventure. and when i allow for more experiments, i give my soul more ways to express. i give my soul more ways to replenish itself. this is something i learned from george kao. i now see experiments as little sojourns into my own garden.
YOUR WORK IS READ > YOU INSPIRE MORE for a long time, i was worried about being copied. i've finally let it go. because i realized that we are meant to spark feelings in each other. sometimes, what looks like jealousy is actually inspiration, a calling. sometimes, what looks like protection is actually fear. let fear out into the sunlight and you might just see it's final form: awe.
