Today I’ve had conversations that made me pause & reflect, particularly on the idea of “waiting” - many of us are waiting for life to begin again but one friend posed the question of what gifts, resources, or privileges we currently own that could be used right now for change?

It wasn’t until this past year that I gained confidence in my writing & voice, but that gift still felt contingent on the validation of others, specifically hearing back from journals & magazines I’ve submitted to. Waiting for someone to make space for me, & living in uncertainty

Made me realize that while I can submit to however many places & write in between responses, I’m still placing so much power in others. I may not be interested in self-publishing per se at the moment, but I want to do more for myself & my craft. I want to be my own cheerleader

And advocate for myself. All of these social media platforms exist as spaces for me to do so, so be it posting pieces I’m working on or going live to simply read my favorite works, I as an artist want & need to share more instead of waiting for someone to do it for me.

I am not discrediting journals or the submission progress (since I’ll continue to use them) but as someone without an MFA or a conventional net of literary resources/privileges, I have got to be my #1 here, so this is a start (& personal reminder to myself that I have a mf blog)