I hope you’ll forgive me today if I give myself a little writerly pep talk. Feel free to listen in if you’d like.

Andi girl,

Stop comparing yourself to other people. Stop thinking that what they do or what they write is more important than what you do or write. It’s not. Okay, it may be – we can’t really compete with Archbishop Tutu – but that’s not what matters. What matters is that you do what you are asked to do.

In case you forgot, you’ve been asked to write.

Your skills, your talent, your love of language, your education, your reading habits – all of those things, all of those things that you either naturally were given or were naturally inclined to develop, all of those things speak to your identity as a writer.

So stop it. Stop the comparing, the procrastinating, the unhealthy self-deprecation. Stop all of that. Okay?

Love, Yourself

P.S. By the way, when did you start speaking like your mother? Andi girl?

Anybody else need to give themselves a pep talk? Feel free to use the comment section for that, and I’ll back you up all the way.