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February Darkness
It's a thing. Keep writing.
Camille Freeman
February 12, 2024
February is dark and gloomy for many of us.
It’s cold, and it feels like winter has no end in sight.
You might find it hard to write and hard to reach out. You might lose your confidence or your desire to get off the couch.
This is when the little voice inside your head starts its chatter: it doesn’t really matter whether you send your newsletter or not. There are other people doing this work better than you could. Maybe you should give up. And so on.
I find that when this season kicks in it helps to remember a few things:
1) This is a season, and it doesn’t last forever. It can feel like spring will never arrive, and it truly will.
2) It’s okay to be quiet and to embrace the season. Before you make any big decisions, think about whether the chit chat in your head is true and useful. Be as kind to yourself as you would be to a client.
3) Your words can heal. Your newsletter matters. Sending your newsletter means you are showing up up for your readers and for yourself.
Here’s something poet and author Maggie Smith said to a group of 5th graders who asked her whether anyone has ever tried to stop her from writing:
If anyone has tried to stop me, it’s been that little voice in my head that says I’m not good enough, or no one will care what I have to say, or my idea isn’t very interesting. And my job is to turn down the volume of that little voice—the ‘inner critic’ we sometimes call it—and believe in myself and keep going. And I hope you do that, too.
Thank you, Debbie, for passing along this issue of Smith’s For Dear Life newsletter. (I also love her books of poetry and prose)
I, too, hope you will believe in yourself and keep going this month 🖤
Take care,
Camille
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