I got brave yesterday.
We were at a cookout after church, chatting with friends we’ve only known for a short while. I was asking the wife what she did, and then she asked me if I stayed home with the girls or if I worked outside the home. I gathered up all my courage and said,
“Yeah, I’m a writer, so I can stay home with the girls and work my schedule around them.”
I always feel like such a fraud saying that. I’m not published! I’m not earning any money off my writing! How can I claim that for myself?
But it’s the truth. I am a writer, no matter what, and it’s about time I stopped selling myself short.
And the really neat thing? She got all excited and told me that her husband is a writer, too, only he hardly ever has time to write anything anymore, and he hasn’t had anyone really to talk to about writing since leaving college, and it was so great to actually meet another writer.
So then I laughed and confessed how hard it was for me to say that about myself, and her husband (who had joined us by this point) laughed too and said he totally understood.
Turns out it didn’t really require that much courage after all.
How about that?
Speaking of being a writer, I did recently start a Facebook page for my writing. If following through FB is up your alley, check it out and let me know what you think! https://www.facebook.com/elbateswriter
(Interestingly enough, I also told someone else about the writing yesterday afternoon. She asked how my week had been, I said full, she wanted to know with what, so I told her that I’ve been working every spare moment on putting together a collection of short stories to independently publish this fall. She wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as the other, but she didn’t stand up and scream “FAKE” or anything, and even seemed fairly interested, so all in all, points for bravery and honesty.)