The moment
fear turns into exhilaration is an amazing one. I felt it several times during
my family vacation to Cape Cod this past week. It’s a feeling all writers need
to experience in order to be successful at their craft – and to enjoy and
appreciate what they create.
One of my
conversion moments, where fear or stress moves to fun and relaxation came when
I was kayaking with my 10-year-old son, who thinks he knows all things nautical
simply because he knows more than me. I know very little about the world
of boats.
He’s
gotten to know a bit at his summer camps about wakes, water currents, tides,
motorboats, etc. But despite his attempt
to calm me, I was whining for the first few minutes of our excursion at a beach
by the bay in Well Fleet, MA.
“Don’t go
near the motor boats,” I’d yell out.
They were
150 feet from us, I overreacted.
“Don’t
shake the boat, it could tip over,” I’d scream out.
My son
merely repositioned his body. I clearly
overreacted.
But then I
settled down. I realized the waters were
calm and we were paddling just fine.
He’s a good swimmer and I can’t swim, which supports some of my nervosa,
but I had a life jacket on.
As my
concerns melted, they gave way to feelings of excitement and thrill-seeking. I let my curiosity move from fear and
inquisitiveness of what could go wrong to more of a concern of what can I learn
and appreciate. I settled into a groove,
harnessing my energy to embrace the moment and to paddle with authority and
conviction. I was on a journey and was
fine with the unknown.
Later my
son would have his moment of flipping out, fearing we’d enter water that was
too shallow or filled with rocks. I reasoned there was nothing to fear and he
chilled out.
But then
we both had a real moment of concern. We thought we spotted a seal, which gave us a
reaction of “Oh, that is really cool.”
Then we realized the seal could topple our boat, even accidentally. Then we remembered that sharks follow
seals. We didn’t want to become
lunch. We paddled away to safety,
leaving us exhausted and yet feeling accomplished. W e confronted danger and
survived.
Writers
can go through some of the same feelings that my son and I felt. Before you can enjoy the journey and hopefully
celebrate the destination of your published works, you may go through periods of
stress, doubt, or fear. It’s difficult
to just dismiss such feelings and yet, that’s exactly what you need to do.
Paddle
through it.
Slowly,
but surely, you transform yourself. You
get over the hump and the rest becomes smooth sailing.
It’s a
beautiful view, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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