Writing Fearlessly

If you want to write you must have faith in what is. You must respect what exists, because it has earned the right to exist. Of all the possibilities, of all the things that might have existed, this thing exists and you should write about it. Be fearless. Explain nothing. Justify nothing. See things as they are and write about them. Don’t waste your creative energy trying to make things up. Even if you are writing fiction, write the things you see and know.

If you want to write you must have faith in yourself. Faith enough to believe that if a thing is true about you, it is likely true about many people. And if you can have faith in your integrity and your motives, then you can write about yourself without fear. With the right kind of faith, you can be at peace with people knowing things about you and passing judgment on you. And they will judge you. Those who will never dare to write and who will never bare their souls in words will pass judgment on you. And the more hidden they are behind masks of lies and pretense, the more eager they will be to turn the spotlight on you. You will be a scapegoat. You will speak our sins, and they will lay hands on you and drive you into the wilderness.

This is old school. This is primitive. This is the way things are. We look for someone to bear the burden of our sins, then we drive them away so that we don’t have to look at them and can go back to our sinning with peace of mind.

But if you can live with all of this, if you can let people know things about you, keep your eyes on the ball, and keep moving forward, living hard and straight and writing about it, then you can be a writer. And maybe a writer is something you want to be. - Be Lonely, Straight, and True by Rlp

Ouch! I am ashamed to say there were times I have succumbed to the fear of rejection. I don't mean to say that my writings here are not honest. I make great effort to express myself as honestly as I could. It's just that there have been a number of issues I chose not write about because I was afraid people might be offended or hurt. I have always felt that the only way I can be completely honest would be to remain anonymous. Yet, it's quite pointless to stay completely anonymous. The reason why I blog is because I want to make known my thoughts and feelings. They represent who I am to a large extent. What's the point of writing if people cannot connect what I am writing with who I am? It's almost like the Buddhist doctrine of non-self where everything is impersonal; an illusion. Nothing can touch me because there is no "me" to begin with. So I can't say this is what I feel and think about such and such. In short - why write? It won't mean anything without a person behind those words.

Rlp was spot on in his observation and assessment. What am I afraid of? Am I not big and secure enough to handle rejection and criticism?


rk