Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to spend time with a few very interesting women–three of them prolific local artists. These were women I didn’t know well, but they felt very familiar. We were all about the same age, and the energy in the room was lively and fun. The conversation meandered to several topics of interest — from home decorating, painting, and drawing, to managing clients–eventually, landing on a women who said she didn’t paint because a teacher in high school told her she didn’t have talent. This launched a discussion about how harmful and long-lasting judgements can be.
Judgement is a topic that I discuss in my Write YOUR Story workshop. Before we can free the artist or writer within, we have to address, forgive, and banish the judge. As one of the artists said, “Anyone can paint. They just need to do it.”
I feel the same about writing. Anyone can write, they just need to tell judgement to take a hike. So often we forget that we have a choice about how we live our lives. We fall victim to circumstances and believe we are stuck in patterns that no longer serve us, or worse, never served us! We may have had dreams and aspirations that came from our authentic selves, but external and internal judgements about our abilities and capabilities dashed our dreams or made us feel we don’t deserve to live them.
How many of us have the courage to follow our hearts and take a leap of faith into the void, to push judgement aside? Can you imagine how your life would be if you chose to live this way? As Robert Schuller, pastor, motivational speaker and author, asked, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?
Take a moment and picture yourself doing that very thing. Would you write a novel? Hike Mount Everest? Get in touch with an old friend? Leave your marriage? Write about it as if it actually happened. How does it make you feel? Remember: anyone can write — even YOU.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.