Literary Life #4
Dear friend,
Things didn’t start off well in English.
At the beginning of the school year, my son was not loving his English class. It is usually one of his favorite subjects, but he felt that the teacher snubbed him, and whether it was intentional or not, he was affected by it. (High schoolers are a finicky bunch.)
English was declared his least favorite class, and the teacher middling at best.
But then he was challenged to a dare. Dares always conjure the idea of something bad in my mind, but this one had a plot twist I didn’t see coming.
A few of his classmates dared him to go up to the teacher on the third day of class and tell her that he loved her class (he didn’t). Well, he did. He told her he was really excited to be in her English class and was looking forward to a fun year ahead.
The plot twist happened yesterday when he informed me that he had changed his mind, and his teacher was very nice and actually pretty great.
This stopped me in my tracks.
What happened after that? She started greeting him by name when he came into the classroom each day. She stops by his table to ask him and his friends how their projects are going.
He felt seen. And once felt seen, it changed his mindset on the class.
I think so often we are chasing whatever our version of “success” might be. Deep down, it’s just a desire to be seen. Validated.
It’s made me stop and think: How often do I make quick judgments based on a snapshot of a situation? Maybe I’m not seeing progress fast enough, or something feels out of my comfort zone. I want to be seen to be considered successful.
How can I put a positive spin on something I previously had my mind made up about?
How about you? Do you have something you aren’t enthused about that could use a mindset shift?
Maybe realizing that each reader matters. If you have 1 or 100,000 subscribers or followers on social, treat each person as a friend to connect with and the results might surprise you. Or maybe you are feeling frustrated because you don’t know what you should be doing to market your books. Making a plan can help you find the joy in marketing. (or at least help it take less time and not feel like drudgery.)
I dare you to see if you can enjoy it. It might not be as bad as you first made it out to be.
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