When I was in eighth grade, I wanted to be a writer. A poet to be exact.
I would write almost every night and publish a lot of these poems under a pseudonym so no one would know it was me on a poetry website. I didn’t think I was any good and I was embarrassed by this hobby so I never considered that I was a writer because my shame told me I wasn’t good enough to be one. Some days, I wish I could go back and tell younger me that she is a writer and always will be. I was under the impression I had to have the job title or be the best for me to be considered an actual writer, which is not the case.
When I was in college during my freshman seminar course, my professor pulled me aside and told me I should look into being an English Major given how much I clearly enjoy writing. At the time, I was so set on being a Chemistry Teacher (I don’t know what I was thinking) that I laughed at the idea and thought, I am really not that good at writing so I don’t know why I would ever major in that (I wasn’t good at chemistry either, so I don’t really know what I was thinking).
Today I consider myself a writer. I wrote this blog which technically means I am a writer.
I don’t have to be the best writer out there and I for sure don’t have to be a published poet or author for this to be true. This year I have really focused on accepting the fact that I don’t have to be the best for something to be true. Claiming that I am something, makes doing the thing much more enjoyable because it eliminates the pressure to be the best or perfect the skill.
So far, I have accepted that I am a leader, I am a skier, I am a writer, and I look forward to my trip out west in a few weeks so that I can finally say I am a surfer.
You are what you do no matter how well you do it.
Surprise, you don’t need to be the best to be that thing!
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