I care so deeply about the impact of this blog that my creativity has been stifled. Here’s the thing about creativity: when you put rules, expectations on it… well, forget it. I have no control over where this blog will go, nor whether you will get anything out of this. That isn’t my responsibility, that isn’t my right, that isn’t mine to carry. And it’s even less my creativity’s responsibility.

I don’t know about you, but I have this grandiose idea of how my creations, art, creativity, gifts will impact the world. Yet, this often happens simply by happenstance. This has little to do with my intentions or how hard I work. This isn’t to say that hard work and intentions don’t shine through or make a difference. By all means, they do. But no amount of hard work will make you relate to my writing, and no amount of good intentions will bring anyone to pursue reading this. If I am fortunate enough to reach anyone with this blog, and then fortunate enough to reach someone who relates to this blog, and then fortunate enough to have the honor of that someone sharing this blog with others, well that’s mostly just luck. That is being in the right place at the right time with the right people.

My authentic self, my creative self, my whole self is all that I can give. And this giving of self is the only realistic expectation that I can hold. Anything more than that is setting myself up for failure, disappointment, shame, and resentment. It will kill the joy that I have in writing and telling my story. And it will kill my story.

It’s less important what I do, and more important that I do it. It’s not about putting out perfect work every time (or any time for that matter). Writing has never been a perfect art anyway. The way to touch lives is having the courage to actually do something, finish something, or not finish it and release it anyway. The thing that sets us apart is not the perfect creations that we share. It’s simply that we share our creations. It’s the courage to put it out there and accept it for what it is. Because, let’s face it, once I put my writing out there, it is no longer mine. It’s yours. And that’s the beauty of it. It’s a release of power, a trusting, a heart wide-open.

And in the end, it means everything and nothing at all. It simply is.

~Em