Have always dreamed about something, but instead of pursuing it, you pushed it away? Have you always wanted to write, but never got around it? Have you always told yourself, “I want to be a writer” but afraid to do so?

 

 

I began writing when I was in high school. I wrote poems, stories, and I secretly enjoyed writing essays on exams while my classmates abhorred it. But when I got to college, I tried to “fit in” with the world. And so I took a college degree that is far a cry from my real passion.

 

 

Years later, I worked in one of the biggest banks in my country. Until such time that my spirit slowly died down. I was crying inside. I wasn’t happy with my job, and there’s always a constant feeling of emptiness inside of me. Sounds cheesy, I know. But that is the truth. A year ago, I re-discovered my passion in writing. And I never looked back.

 

 

By the time I embraced my true passion, I was willing to do everything to make it happen. But there’s one thing that always prevented me. My fears. It’s awful isn’t it? The fear of putting myself out there and get rejected crept into my creativity.

 

 

The fear of being rejected and thoughts that I’m not good enough, paralyzed my talent and limited my capacity to give. Instead of pursuing my dream to become a writer, once again, I tucked away my passion. But the more I silenced it, the more it grew. Words wouldn’t stop to ring in my ears, forcing me to write them down. And so I got tired of hushing it, I finally decided to write. But this time, I was willing to do it, no matter what the outcome because I could not not write.

 

 

Writers are creators. It is our responsibility to create. In times that you are afraid to give, or you think that you’re not good enough, you hold back the gift that the world needs of you. Fear is something we face every day. But what separates the true writers from wannabe ones, is the audacity to write and doing it afraid. It’s never easy to put into words your own thoughts and desires. Yet, every day we show up and pour out our souls in every word that we write.

 

 

The world made us believe that writing can’t put food on the table. And because we don’t want that, we choose to turn back from writing and find “real jobs”. If only we realize that we can earn a living writing and earn what we deserve. If only we knew that if we recognize our true value, we can bless this world with our gifts. The world needs real writers, like you and me. By hiding behind your cloak masked as “real job”, you selfishly devoid the world of the beauty that you should have given it.

 

 

Fear of Rejection

 

 

While it is true that rejection will come, and it will surely come, the joy of writing should be greater than our fears. This is not to say that we should dismiss the fear. Fear will always be there. And so I say, do it afraid.

 

 

Do it anyway. Do it afraid.

 

 

Write those words, write that novel or story, write that guest post, write that pitch. Do it afraid. The world is not going to implode if you do. Funny thing about fear, the more you try to avoid it, the more you get scared. The more you look at it in its eyes, the less afraid you become. And so we write, not because we are full of courage, but because we’re vulnerable and afraid. We write because it’s our gift that we need to share. We write because we cannot not write.

 

 

Fear of Being Not Good Enough

 

 

I’ve always thought that I can’t be a good writer, there are a lot of them who are already good at it. I can never keep up. But, does it matter?

 

 

I’m not going to lie. This fear still creeps up. But I guess I have learned a bit on how to tame it. And I’m working hard to prevent it from getting into me. Because the truth is, it doesn’t matter if there are superstar writers out there. The only writer I should compare myself to, is the writer that I was yesterday.

 

 

Do not let go of your dream on writing, just because others are good. Instead, embrace your dream, because you can write. You have a message and a voice, the world needs to hear it.

 

Joy Bautista-Collado is a freelance writer and blogger. She loves ghost blogging for creative entrepreneurs. When she’s not working with clients, she works on her novel and writes short stories at her blog www.TheJoyofStories.com.

 

This post also appears on Make a Living Writing Link Party-Spring Edition.