Dear Mitty, writing isn't glamorous. Do you still want it?

Dear Dreamer, Scholar, and a self-appointed Walter Mitty: 

(aka: me) 

You've reached that point in life that was once considered "your future." You graduated high school looking a little less geeky than when you started. You went to college and weren't a complete loser. You fell in love with knowledge and actually grew to love writing. You finally graduated college and are in "your twenties" (which not too long ago sounded like the pinnacle of maturity...). 

These are the days you thought would never actually get here. But oh snap, they're here. You live in your third rental house, you have a real job, a college degree, and one of your best friends is married. Welcome to the future, Mitty. 

It doesn't feel like you thought it would. It's not easy, and you're not flawless or famous. Having your own car, house, and paycheck doesn't make life any less lonely, anxious, or routine. You still feel like you're 16 sometimes, and we're trying to figure out if that's okay or not. 

At this point in life you wanted to be a writer, and you still do. But guess what, Mitty?

Writing isn't glamorous. Do you still want it? It's not coffee shared with the sunrise. It's not foreign cafes and adoring fans. Your mind doesn't magically turn into a well of words. At some point, the coffee has to stop and work has to be done. 

Writing is a discipline. Do you still want it? It's rewarding, but it takes work. It's beautiful to see words dance, but it's raw and painful. To write about what matters will strike a dissonant chord, but stick with it. There's some intriguing harmonies waiting to exist. 

Writing is competitive. Do you still want it? There's a lot of smart people out here that seem to write better than you. Don't fool yourself, those people are extremely good writers and are certainly better than you. But those people aren't you.

Writing gets worse before it gets better. Do you still want it? Most of it feels really bad and unproductive. If you can be okay with persistantly writing some not-great stuff, then little by little that formidable glacier of fear will start to budge, and you could wind up somewhere cool. 

Writing means listening. Do you still want it? If you had the power to construct brilliance alone, you would have done it by now. Instead, be still and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. You are only His typewriter, so get your head out of the clouds. Your words will be hollow unless they come from Him. 

Writing isn't glamorous. Do you still want it?

Do you love words enough fight with them? Do you thirst for knowledge enough to adequately humble yourself and learn it? 

Then by all means, Mitty, write. Learn. Put all of yourself into it. Learn from people that are smarter than you (which is basically everyone), because you come alive when you're learning. 

Don't look now, Mitty, but you've got big dreams that aren't going anywhere. Looks like you're stuck with them. But be careful of choosing laziness or fantasy in place of real life. The quintessence of life isn't as distant as it may seem.  

So live, Mitty. Worship and live. You don't need much, and what you need He provides.

"One of the pictures hanging in my office in mid-Manhattan is a photograph of the writer E.B. White... Many people come from many corners of my life--writers and aspirating writers, students and former students--have seen that picture. They come to talk through a writing problem or to catch me up on their lives. But usually it doesn't take more than a few minutes for their eye to be drawn to the old man sitting at the typewriter. What gets their attention is the simplicity of the process. White has everything he needs: a writing implement, a piece of paper, and a receptacle for all the sentences that didn't come out the way he wanted them to." 

- William Zinsser, from page 1 of On Writing Well: the classic guide to writing nonfiction

What I'm currently reading: 
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. A novel about the history of philosophy, loaned to me by the lovely Nolie Ramsey. 
The Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter Scazzero. Recommended to me by Elizabeth Langford and Bridgetown Church. If you don't fancy reading, then listen to the podcast series. Life changer! 
Metaphysics by Aristotle. It's slow-going and dense and translated into English. Yay. Check back in a decade when I finish it. 

What I'm listening to: 
"Darden Road" by Beta Radio because I heard them at a house show a couple of weeks ago. 
"Back to You" by Twin Forks because it's a fun road trip song and fits perfectly into my Smiling Banjos playlist.

Oh... and The Harry Potter soundtrack because it's Halloween