Megan, my protagonist in my manuscript, has this mantra: Hope always ends in disappointment. Her allies try to chip away at this false narrative, but every time they make headway, something happens to derail their progress, and Megan’s distorted belief strengthens. Real life feels like that sometimes, doesn’t it?
It’s Monday. Time for another Boldness in the Face of Anxiety post, and this one has me feeling particularly vulnerable…
I’ve battled depression on and off since my teen years (although some in my family will likely deny it). It’s under control for the most part. I see a therapist regularly—btw, there is NO SHAME in admitting that—but that doesn’t mean there aren’t “flare-ups,” and the last few days have had me struggling.
The Texas freeze was two and a half months ago. It seems like a lifetime ago that we went twenty-three days without running water. Shortly after we got everything working again, we slowly eased back into pandemic normalcy (if that exists). My nine-year-old had fun cutting up a dead purple sage bush, and guess what he found on the branch…a chrysalis shell.
I’ll be honest, I was planning on skipping today’s post. April’s been a challenging month for me, and more and more I’m finding myself needing a break. I didn’t have a topic in mind let alone the ability to sincerely lift up anyone reading this. But that changed when I was talking with a friend last night.
I’m going to get right to the point: I can’t do everything. No matter how much I want or how many times I try, it’s not gonna happen. Period.
Someone told me at a writers’ conference a couple years ago that every author needs three things in order to get published: (1) Talent. (2) Persistence. (3) Luck. I’ve never forgotten that, especially now that I’m querying. Talent, I think I have—at least several people have told me I’m a good writer. Persistence, yes. Luck…I have to admit, I haven’t felt too lucky recently.
The last several days have been quite difficult for me. I kept going back to that quote from The Blacklist: “There is nothing that can take the pain away. But eventually you will find a way to live with it. There will be nightmares. And every day when you wake up, it will be the first thing you think about. Until one day, it will be the second thing.”
Okay, this isn’t technically a “fun” fact, but it’s one that needs to be shared…
I see a therapist. Have for several years. Once upon a time, it was taboo to speak those words. In some ways, I think it still is, which is why I’m telling you. Because it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
It’s no secret that the Texas storm last month was pure hell for us. Since February 15th, we’ve been “roughing it” with no running water (our plumber was able to get us a tiny bit a few days ago, though). To say it was hard would be an understatement. But yesterday, a miracle happened—our plumber got the pump working…
