The Fear of Being Done
This week, I'm joining the Five Minute Friday write up. This is a community of writers who write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. This week the prompt is “done”.
I fear being done, because being done means that I have to let others judge me.
It doesn’t matter if it’s being done with writing a blog post, or a presentation or a talk. If something is done, it means I’m inviting other people’s opinions. And that terrifies me. But if I leave the project in a folder labeled draft, then all my mistakes can stay hidden. I don’t need to worry about what others think about my ideas. If I never publish anything, I don’t have to let others in on the secret that I’m horrible at grammar. If I never submit a proposal, I don’t have to be rejected.
Last year, I read a book about writing. The author urged us to finish writing a piece. I thought for one year; I would try to complete at least one post or proposal per week. I would be done with one project at a time.
And throughout that year, I’ve heard a lot of no’s. I have created pieces with a plethora of spelling and grammar mistakes. (Even writing Christ Pratt instead of Chris Pratt.) I’ve put my ideas out there and heard negative comments about almost all my pieces.
Being willing to be done has allowed me to take the next step in my journey to finding my voice. And while my imperfections have been on full display, I’ve also discovered that my flaws don’t define me.
