When the thing that drives you also gets in the way

On recognition

“No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.”

― Carl Jung

After almost a decade of sharing my writing, I’ve noticed there are two sides to my motivation to write.

There’s the drive to know what I’m thinking. And then there’s the drive for recognition. 

I write because I want to find my people. I want someone to recognise themselves in the words. I write because I want someone to read it and say, yes, this.

Yet these drives can often be at odds with each other.

We all hold these contradictions. Our drive can become our block. Our greatest strength can also be our weakness. Our support becomes our crutch.

Sharing my writing has brought so much connection. If I think about the people who have changed my life and my deepest new friendships, in one way or another, I’ve found them through my writing and creative projects (I delve deeper into this in the next Weekly Things newsletter as a bonus for my