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Have You Slip Cast Yourself Into the Wrong Life?

The whole thing begins innocently enough. Easy as liquid clay sliding into a mould.

You get a job offer and ~ what the hell ~ a girl’s gotta eat, right? You won’t be a real office worker, you’ll just pretend while you’re waiting for your big break. Post a Mary Oliver poem on your cubicle wall and enjoy the free Perrier and stock options.

These lovely people want you on their committee, and it’s such a good cause, and you’re very good at taking minutes/running meetings/organizing fundraisers. A three-year term doesn’t sound so bad.

Hey, look at all the clients who want to pay you to help them! You’ll just do this one job. Which leads to another. And who would turn down work these days?

At first it feels good. Look at you adapting, accommodating. You’re slick and fluid and so multi-talented you can do anything you put your mind to. People admire and compliment and thank you and ask for more.

Then one day you look around and realize the life’s been sucked out of you. You try to make a move and everything’s hardened. The mould that looked attractive and temporary at first has imprisoned you in such a contorted shape that you can hardly remember who you really are.

Would you like to get a refresher?

Remember ~ and affirm ~ that you are a writer, an artist, so you can break out of that restrictive life that doesn’t fit you.

Claiming Your Artistic License is an audio class and set of worksheets that remind you of your undeniable nature as a creator. When you register for my email list, you get instant access to this class so you can give yourself permission for a lifetime commitment to art.

Put your art at the center of your life,
and everything gets better.

2011

{ 2 comments… add one }

  • Brenda Visser March 23, 2011, 6:05 pm

    Wow! This post exactly describes me and what I have been wrestling with this last year. Fantastic that you shared this! Thanks.

  • Kristin January 18, 2014, 7:39 pm

    I wrote a self-published book, but it barely went anywhere. I reflected on my writing for over a year before I started to write and edit again. What I learned…is that I tried to sugar coat my writing for other people. I left out what was in my heart so people would like it. Well, that didn’t work.

    My mother said, ‘It was the worst thing I ever read.” My fear came true. That hurt. I unpublished my writing soon after she said those words. It took me two years to write it, and another year for her to even acknowledge it. And three seconds to take it off Amazon.

    So now, I am not being sensitive in my content. I don’t care what she thinks. Or, what other people think. I’m being true to myself and writing all the words I left out to ‘protect’ the feelings of my mother, the reader and my family. My book is a fictional story about five children! What she saw in my story that would cause her reaction – I have no idea!

    I am not going to write for anyone but myself. Through the writing process, I have learned that not all mothers like their daughters. I was shocked at what I learned about the people in my life. Both good and bad. I was even more shocked about the kindness from strangers who did read my book.

    Hopefully, the truth will set me free. And my words will give me peace.

    I’ve been in a walking depression for years. I’ve come to the conclusion that my best friends make a great family. I believe in myself, my art, my friendships and my truth.

    Thank you for this website!

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