The Difference
Do you know the difference between writing something you are authentically interested in – something you would write whether anyone cared that you were writing it or not – and writing something that you think the market wants or the agents want or the editors want or your friends and relations want? Have you ever felt that difference? It is the difference between kissing someone you actually love and kissing someone you think you should be able to love because he or she is handsome enough or pretty enough or tall enough or successful or funny enough or smart enough.
It is the difference between your bed and a hospital bed, between falling asleep and passing out drunk, between a sunrise and stadium lights.
You would think we would only have to live the difference once to choose one forever over the other – and for some indeed this is so – but for many of us it is a lesson that can be learned only through repetition. Only through repetition can we be convinced that ease is its own reward, and that what gets called hard work is usually nothing but committing to that which hardly works. Only through repetition can we understand that we are heard more clearly when we listen. Only through repetition can we find the scent we crave from all the field of flowers, can we walk through what is open instead of banging on what is closed, can we accept the difference between living and not-dying.
If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual and group conferencing.
You can find Bill at: williamkenower.com
