“To be yourself in a world that is consistently trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I read these words, I instantly felt them speak to me and wanted to share them with you. How often do we find ourselves contending with a world that is “consistently trying” to make us “something else!”

Every day, ads bombard us with images that are designed to show us how we’e lacking and what new product will fulfill us. If you buy a new car, you’ll enter Nirvana—or so the message goes.

And how often in our writing life, do we find ourselves chasing this tip or that technique, hoping to shore up some deficit in our dialogue writing or plotting or improve our craft in some other way?

Sometimes, it’s a good idea…to…just…stop. And…just…be yourself.

To be yourself —and to appreciate all you are, takes courage and intention.

We are hardwired as a species to scan our environments for signs of danger—anything negative, anything amiss. That’s how we survive.

But when we do this to ourselves—when we scan for what’s wrong instead of identifying and celebrating what’s right, we fall down a rabbit hole, don’t we? There’s always something to fix. It never ends.

But what if we just let all that go? What if we started every morning appreciating ourselves—the work we’re doing, the time and energy we are putting into it, the ways we’re improving our craft, the good decision we made about something on our plate.

I’ve decided to start doing this and invite you to do the same. I’m going to make it a habit to appreciate myself as a first act of my day, before I appreciate anything else in my life. I’m going to give myself a little opening round of applause for what I’m doing well and whatever I’m making progress on.

“To be yourself”—that’s the “greatest accomplishment” says Emerson.

I think he’s onto something. How about you? I’d love to hear what you think as we all write on!

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