Literary Letter #1

A letter to a friend.

Dear friend,

I’ve heard that you are struggling with guilt. Guilt about taking time to be creative. Guilt about wanting to pursue a passion that fulfills you. Guilt about sharing your stories with the world.

Allow me to share with you some wisdom that was given to me years ago when I was struggling with letting go of beliefs that were keeping me in a stronghold and stifling the life I wanted to live.

“She was of the mind that people should make their own decisions about their own lives, if you can imagine such a preposterous thing.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Think about the situation you are struggling with and then ask yourself: what advice would you give if it was a friend sharing this with you? I know this sounds simplistic, but it works for me every time.

If my friend was feeling guilty about taking the time to write a story, would I tell them they should stop? Hell, no! I would tell them (and I do) to keep going. Chase your dreams. Share your creativity with the world.

What if my friend told me they felt their writing wasn’t good enough? (This has also happened to me.) I get that friend on the phone and give them a pep talk, reminding them that writing is a practice. No one writes the perfect sentence the first time. It’s about learning your craft and growing along the way. It’s a journey.

So then, dear friend, why have you not been giving yourself the same grace that you would give to others?

I want you to take a moment to think back on all the stories that have touched your life. Do you think those writers had guilt about taking the time to write? Maybe. But aren’t we happy that they pushed past that to share those stories with us?

“A life without stories would be no life at all. And stories bound us, did they not, one to another, the living to the dead, people to animals, people to the land?” — Alexander McCall Smith

And so, my dear friend, isn’t it time to be kind to yourself. Release the guilt. Chase your passion with wild abandon. Write.

Happy reading,
Melissa