Take The Leap

Hey! So I am taking the plunge and starting my own blog/website. Why you may be asking? Why not, I answer! Why not me? There is no reason other than it is something I have wanted to do for a very long time and like many of you I have always believed I didn’t have the right skill set, I wasn’t good enough, people are going to talk about me, blah, blah, and more blah. You know how it goes.

We all spend more time talking to ourselves about why we can’t do something and never doing enough to actually do what we really want to do, what we really love. I am so guilty with all of this. Months have turned into years as I continued to worry about how I would be judged. Ha! No more!

What Fear

If you are anything like me, you have read all there is to be read about taking the leap into the creative world of writing. Yeah, it is what we do, isn’t it? We think there is another article out there, just one more we must have missed. Another self-help book that will convince us we have what it takes. You know, the one with the secret sauce, the “real” way to get all of this done.. Ah yes! Just one more…

Get over it people. There is nothing more you need to learn to get going. You are just as capable, if not more than I am of learning as you go along. Just throw all of that caution to the wind and get your damn blog up and running. No one is ever going to judge you, no one is ever going to look at what you write and think you are some kind of idiot. Your family and your friends are not going to run from you just because you have started your own online blog. The world and the internet was meant for you to have your own little piece of it. It’s just the way it is!

You Got This

By the way, I am 65 years old, (shocker), right now! I love to write, I love photography, and I love to travel. Add to this trifecta the excitement of candid street photography, and the intriguing art of close up flower photography with a belief that we don’t enjoy flowers enough during the darkest times of the day. Hell, I am left with enough to write and share about for 2, 3, or even forever lifetimes! How is that for a list of things to do?

If you don’t have the time to do it now, when will you ever find the time to do it later? What do you want your legacy to be? There is so much you can do each day, even if you start by taking just 5 to 10 minutes to kick things off. Mornings, evenings, dictate in your car or on mass transit on your commute. There are really no reasons not to begin, and so many more reasons why you should. Get moving, now!

I have been writing daily for just over 7 years now. I have close to 4000 entries from journaling. I have never given myself the time of day to believe I was good enough to take the leap. I was always fearful of landing on my head instead of my feet. You know what? We are all more like cats then we would like to believe, we are always going to land on our feet. You are going to land on your feet…with pencil in hand! The world is not going to judge you, it just doesn’t work that way.

My Inspiration

I have had many. We all have signs that just plop themselves right in front of us, we trip over them actually. For me it was a writer named Austin Kleon. I came across one of his books while at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. “Steal Like an Artist.” Austin tells us in his book that we don’t have to come up with something that has never been done before, we don’t have to invent something that is new. Find something you like, many things you like for that matter. Look at ideas that are working and borrow from them. Look at the concept, make it unique and make it your own. How simple is that? Read Austin’s book - “Steal Like an Artist.”

You know what else you can do? You can sign up for his weekly newsletter. He sends them out every Friday and they are filled with really cool stuff for the creative minds out there. I love what he does with list’s. My second source actually came recently from his newsletter. Austin was sharing information about a YouTube video from another creative, Ali Abdaal. In the video Ali actually talks about another of Austin’s books, “Show Your Work.” This one is about self promotion. Ali speaks to a lot of the self doubt that we all have., he nails it! Another of those signs I mentioned. There really is no reason to wait, there is no reason to learn more, there is no secret sauce.

I already have what it takes to get going! So do you! GET GOING! Anyone who wants to jump into the creative world of writing, photography, blogging, what ever your gig is going to be, you will learn as you grow! First, you have to jump into it!

In the coming weeks I am going to be sharing a lot more of the things I do in order to help me keep the journey going. You can and should do the same to get your own journey moving in the right direction. In hindsight, all of this is something I could have done a long time ago, years ago actually. Today comes with the realization that you can’t worry about what you cannot change. Look ahead friends, you’re in control.

Truth be told, time is precious and so is your talent. Turn your love and passion into something you can share with the world, do it! Get into the habit of spending a little bit of time each day, build your own unique brand. You are so good enough to share it with the world!

Start sharing…talk soon!

G