10 Comments
Jan 19Liked by Daniel José Older

Thank you for this.

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author

Thanks for reading!

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Jan 18Liked by Daniel José Older

Terrific piece. I needed to read this today!

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author

happy to hear it!

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Jan 18Liked by Daniel José Older

Thank you for sharing this piece. It's so easy to fall into guilt-traps when so much of today's world is all about hustling, and even more so, about *showing* that you're hustling. This is a wonderful reminder not to fall for someone else's standard. "Writing everyday" is a nice way to build a habit or get a deadline done, but it can also kill creativity if it's not internally motivated. As you said, being a writer is about more than the act of putting words on paper, just like being a student is more than attending classes or being a parent is spending time with your child. Taking this essay to heart!

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author

Absolutely! Every word of this. There are so many traps and we think we're doing ourselves a favor but it's really so dangerous! Stay well rested!

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The only difference between most writers is that some are famous and some are not. We all have the commonality of a whole host of insecurities about our writing and our productivity.

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“I was also being a boyfriend, son, friend, godbrother, mentor, and living, breathing, loving, healing human being. None of which can be simply given up because I’d taken on the responsibility of writing.”

I’m so grateful for these sentences, and this message. The people we love and serve are not excuses for not doing the work. Loving them, writing to and for and about them, and the ways in which we serve them — all of that is the work.

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This is a lovely piece Daniel, thanks for resharing! And happy belated birthday!

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author

thank you!

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