Dare to write. Then hit send
Increasingly, the world seems to demand of us to give a piece of ourselves. When confidence is high, we talk louder, we may say too much. When confidence is low, we want to hide somewhere in a corner.
When choosing what and how much to say, two concepts come to the forefront: authority and authenticity. If you are an expert in a field, or a successful entrepreneur, or a valued member of society, your voice weighs more. Your opinion sometimes has the power to challenge mainstream thinking if it goes against it. If you are not, the same thoughts and opinions could be met with ridicule. Hence, some of us sometimes ask ourselves, who am I to have something to say?
Rosa Parks wasn’t the first person of colour to refuse to give her seat on a bus. However, she was a valued person in her community, hence her gesture inspired a whole movement for human rights of people of colour, as opposed to being shut down as an act of offending rebellion. Hipsters can wear (often very expensive) vintage clothes and wide-rimmed plastic glasses and be perceived as super cool. Often people complain that at work their ideas are disregarded or ridiculed or not listened to, but when their manager proposes the same idea, this time it is met with claps.
We crave authenticity, not despite imperfections, but often precisely because of them. I used to love my Zumba teacher’s dancing routines because they were uniquely hers, they seemed slightly unrefined, expressing her own soul and energy. Same goes with Amy Winehouse’s lyrics, they felt to me a bit too close to the bone, in a wonderful way. They hit home. I used to love writing as a teenager, up to the point where I realised that I had developed a tendency to hide behind my words, to crave that layer of makeup that I was putting on my thoughts. Writing had lost its deeply fulfilling element that kept me going. It was not a means of authentic expression, but a to do list to satisfy those that asked me for articles and of course an ego boost to see that article with my name in a magazine. Unfortunately, creativity doesn’t seem to be fuelled by ego and outwardly approval, and the light dims, gets smaller and smaller until it fades away completely.
What fuels creativity? A sense of having something valuable to share with the world, a sense of duty and a boiling need for expression. In other words, self-esteem. When I was growing up and in that particular environment, creativity was often scoffed at. Something on the lines of: if you don’t want to work a day in your life, choose something that you are really passionate about — they are probably not hiring in that field. Now the buzzwords in almost any profession are creativity and talent. A few years ago, resilience would have been high on that list, but now I get the feeling it is more implied than clearly stated. It’s hard to be creative and effective when you feel overwhelmed. Self-esteem has become not just a psychologic, but an economic need, notes Nathaniel Branden.
What to do then when feeling overwhelmed or lost or crippled by brain fog and lack of sense of direction? Dare to write. Then press send. Ignite that sense of authenticity and let it take you wherever it might take you. Lots of people are sharing a lot of dubious content on social media anyway. When it comes to content that has the potential to shape opinions for the masses — that is to say, people with authority — reality is very different. In Britain, people from middle-class backgrounds dominate the arts and media, according to research by Goldsmith University and London School of Economics. In an era where everyone can share their thoughts at one click of a button, it is counter-intuitive that opinions are swayed towards an increasingly one-sided view of the world.
Successful entrepreneurs share their way of thinking and being in the world as a way to give back to society. If every person on the planet changed themselves to fit that description of the successful entrepreneur, there would be no workforce left to make those thriving businesses possible. A wealth of coaching businesses seems to have appeared as mushrooms after rain, with people claiming that they found patterns that work and can be replicated by anyone. At the same time, it is almost a paradox how creativity and originality seem to matter more than ever.
Quick returns and instant gratification versus values, character and long-term vision, proven methods versus the leap of faith in your own intuition. A lot of anxious decisions to make, every day, every hour. There is no better tool than clarity, and no better way of achieving clarity than putting your thoughts down on paper.
