In my intuitive book coaching experience, I find that people set themselves up for failure without even understanding it. They have the vision of a wildly successful book, with social media interviews and money pouring in. But as Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones) has said that If you sit down to write the next great American novel,  most likely you will not write a thing! It’s too much pressure. 

Years ago, I found myself writing for a television show. In previous years, I had been working in various administration jobs, and most if not all these jobs required that I write. Newsletters, emails, formal letters to donors etc. I had also been journaling since college (and then later, Morning Pages.). But none of that seemed to matter. Weeks into development of the TV show, I was up late working on a script. I thought to myself, “man this is so hard. I’m not even a ‘writer.’”

What? 

I was in fact being paid to be a writer at that time. But my inherent belief that I was not a “writer” clung to me like tar and feathers. 

When I was young, I remember we would snicker if someone said they were an artist of any kind. “Oh yeah, where’s your art? Is it being sold? is it in a museum?” These criticisms were sometimes spoken, but usually internalized. But all of the questions were toxic. 

It didn’t help that my depression-era father would kindly belittle us for art and explicitly say “you can’t make any money drawing pictures, or playing the piano.” This shame-based perspective really went deep into my heart. He was just trying to help us be more “practical” and make money so we wouldn’t starve. I understand his practicality, but I lament his logic.

The famous Winston Churchill, when England was funding programs to repair the remarkable damage done to their cities during World War II, advocated strongly for the arts. He is said to have remarked “If we don’t fund the Arts, then what was it we were fighting for in the first place?” 

It can be hard to articulate that humans need more than just food, water and work to survive. There is a beauty to our creative expressions, and I believe this beauty makes life worth living. Art somehow reaches beyond the logical, linear, practical mind and taps us into our heart, where great and sometimes mystical awakenings happen. 

So, I say get up and dance with abandon to your own music. Write each day, and get that story out of your body so you can feel the freedom that is your birthright. Sketch, draw, paint, sculpt. Do what your aching hearts is begging you to do. Live with the wild expression of who you really are, or who you might in fact be. Constantly break the barriers to the dense walls that have been built up against free-form creative expression that is our birthright. 

Art, music, dance, touch are all somehow essential to the human experience. I invite each of us to shake the rafters and stir things up. Be fully alive, for if you miss this precious, unrepeatable moment, it will be gone forever, and you, as well as humanity at large, will be lesser for it. 

If you are inspired by this letter/email/post, use one of the following questions as a prompt. Write for 15 minutes (use a timer). Then, read what you have written out loud. 

Why do you want to write? 

What does writing mean to you? (or any artistic & creative endeavor, such as dancing, sketching/painting, or singing etc.) 

And finally, do the arts have intrinsic value? Is art for art’s sake worth anything?

I hope to see you in a writing class soon! To find out more, or to register for class, visit my website via link below

Will Donnelly