January 20, 2016 - Daily Notes

Last weekend, I discovered another new independent magazine that encourages women to write from the heart and has no advertising. My heart sank.

I took a breath and called one of my advisors. She is single and brave and in her late twenties. She is working on a so-far memoir and told me this story: Recently she discovered someone else already wrote the book she has been living, breathing, and writing for the last two years. Her mom sent her the link to it on Amazon a couple weeks ago and her heart sank.

This morning she sent me a link to another blog...another woman who, on the surface, appears to be doing exactly what my friend is doing. Except this woman shares only gorgeous, hipstery photographs and notes about herself and her boyfriend and their little dog all happily traveling around the country. There is no mess. It's all perfect-looking.

"How nice for them," I wrote to my friend. "This does not interest me."

Then I wrote this: "Your memoir is not about the uniqueness of life on the road. People have been doing that for decades now. The beauty and power and draw of your story is that you are a courageous woman, sharing her inner journey and the big questions that are alive in her heart. Read some Brene Brown if you have not already. Keep going. I am envisioning your book...it's beautiful. And needed. Not because there's an epic road trip. Because there's you."

My point is: Everything we do creatively has already been done. In fact, someone else is probably doing it right now. Do. Not. Worry. About. Them. 

There is a need for more inspiration in this world that you can imagine. Keep the focus on yourself. Listen to your own heart. Express what you hear there. 

Keep writing, painting, photographing, filming, dreaming, traveling, blogging, inventing, dancing, teaching, helping. Share your work. Encourage your close friends and make time in your day for them to encourage you...give each other attention. Small is where it begins. Intimate is how we make a difference.

After hitting send, I realized...the fact there is already another woman creating another beautiful magazine to give voice to the heart...it's exactly what I dreamed of when I started Lucia. It's starting. We've barely just begun, but we are already changing the world. You are part of it.

Let's keep going.

xo
laura