Write Your Heart Out (Week 2)

January 28 Prompt: 

1. The worst enemy to my creativity is…

---

I have a hard time expressing my creativity when I’m distracted by my own insecurities. How do I get distracted by my deeply embedded insecurities?

COMPARISON

Don’t judge me cause I know you do it too. It’s not that I’m not confident in the gifts God has given me. I know what I’m good at and what needs fine-tuning. I am great at being grammatically correct. I do well at metaphorical writing.

The issue? I suck at writing about topics that I’m not interested in. The topics like, “How to Find the Perfect Hairstyle for Your Personality Type” or “10 Ways You Can Get His Attention Tonight.”

I CAN’T DO IT! <insert a stressed out emoji face here>

And this is the stink of it: A lot of times you have to write stuff you have no interest in just to be published.

I feel like that’s selling out and I’m having a hard time with it. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t allow my authentic brand of creative expression to naturally flow. Right? Am I wrong here?

Cause when I submit an article to a magazine and get rejected after investing multiple hours of focus and heart into it, well, I get insecure. What are they looking for? So I read the other articles in the magazine to see if my personal work is really publish-worthy. And the thing is, I read stuff and think, “I can so do that!”

But the question is, “Do I really want to? Do I want to tailor my style to fit someone else’s mold just so I can say that I’ve been published?”

No. I just don’t think I can do it.

Ah, such is the balancing act between authenticity and popularity.  So, for now, let’s just say I’m good with sticking to my guns and not altering my artistic voice for anyone else. Not yet, anyways.

Those darn cliché article titles, though. Like a moth to a flame, they pull me in every time.

 

 

 
photo credit: Recording Memories – Version 2 via photopin (license)

Write Your Heart Out (Week 1)

February 7 Prompt:

1. Your thoughts on this quote:  The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you except yourself. ~Rita Mae Brown

---

 

Being liked isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There is always more to lose than there is to gain in the popularity game. Isn’t there?

Conformity. Such an evil word (in my opinion) yet so many get caught up in the flashiness of it all. Insert movie clip from “Mean Girls”.

So much beauty is lost when we trade in our original self for a copy of someone else’s masked self. The irony behind our compliance to the standard of “norm” is pinpointed with perfect finality in Rita Mae Brown’s words. Our reward for being the same as everyone else is found in simply being admired by them and therefore neglected by ourselves.

In essence, we get what we think we want but when we get it, we are still left wanting more. That’s the sad part. The one who has the most to gain by accepting herself actually has the most to lose by relying on others to accept her. Such a vicious cycle that can literally be seen from Hollywood to the unholy halls of our local high schools.

Why risk it? Not to sound big-headed or anything, but I am way too important to sacrifice the real me for a walk in Miss Popularity’s shoes. She only lets me see what I want to see anyways. Or maybe I only see what I want to see. Either way, it’s a lie.

Conformity. It makes us a half version of ourselves. And I’d rather be completely me. I’d rather be satisfied in knowing who I am and who I am not. I’d rather let my individuality shine instead of look like everyone else and hate myself for it.

I am a giant within my own brave skin. I will fight the urge to be you with every ounce of big-hearted courage that I have inside of me. I will not conform. For MY OWN sake.