On Tuesday, I sat down with a woman I'd never met before and listened as she told me stories about places and faces half a world away. I was interviewing her for a podcast series at my job, but we talked about so much more than the questions on my list. In that hour, she taught me about perseverance, how you've got to continue to move forward even when your spirit is crushed, how you must keep on using your VOICE even when it feels like you're shouting into the void.
When I meet people like that, it just lights something up inside of me.
I couldn't help but think of this space, and my own little assortment of words. I thought about all that I want it to be, and how I want it to matter, even if it's not there yet. That's been something that's been stewing on my mind for a while - blogging (or just writing in general) and perfectionism. It's something some of you have shared that you struggle with, too. It's the post I've been trying to write as I sit in coffee shops, but, ironically, it never comes out sounding right.
It's taken some time, but I'm realizing that my fear of not having the perfect words (or the perfect blog) shouldn't be enough to stifle my VOICE.
To you worrying if your novel is good enough, if you should just quit writing, if your blog is pointless, or if your VOICE even matters: It does. You do. Just the other day I was thinking about how intricate the world is, how there are so many of us on Earth, but how each one of us has a personal impact. Only you know the people you know, and only you can reach them. When your best friend calls you crying or your sister has a panic attack, they are not looking for Perfect Words. They just need you, your true and authentic self.
When we share our VOICE in a post or a text. When we write the book even as our hands tremble. When we take a step of faith and believe in ourselves and hit that big orange Publish button. I think often times there is opposition and difficulty in getting that message into the world simply because someone out there needs it. Even if it's you.
April, all of it. The VOICE theme. It's refusing to give up even when it feels like I don't have the pretty words or motivation to keep bringing words into this space. It's waking up and writing my novel and having a good laugh at what I wrote even thought it's just me and the word doc. It's forgetting about page views and just pouring out my heart. It's believing that the Lord gave me the love of writing for a reason and that it's never too late to Do the Thing. And it's not too late for you, either.
What has been holding you back from sharing your VOICE? What would you write and say and do if you were completely unafraid? Wishing you a wonderful Easter, my dudes.
Often I think that the biggest blessing comes when we have doubts,
but we write the thing anyway.
but we write the thing anyway.
When we share our VOICE in a post or a text. When we write the book even as our hands tremble. When we take a step of faith and believe in ourselves and hit that big orange Publish button. I think often times there is opposition and difficulty in getting that message into the world simply because someone out there needs it. Even if it's you.
So that's what this is.
April, all of it. The VOICE theme. It's refusing to give up even when it feels like I don't have the pretty words or motivation to keep bringing words into this space. It's waking up and writing my novel and having a good laugh at what I wrote even thought it's just me and the word doc. It's forgetting about page views and just pouring out my heart. It's believing that the Lord gave me the love of writing for a reason and that it's never too late to Do the Thing. And it's not too late for you, either.
What about you?
What has been holding you back from sharing your VOICE? What would you write and say and do if you were completely unafraid? Wishing you a wonderful Easter, my dudes.
