🪟 On Taking Permission and Windows

Hi friends,

This is a day late, because in my brain, yesterday was Sunday since I was off from work (or that’s just an excuse for my procrastination 😊).

When I was in college, I sat before a professor of mine and told him that I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know what being a writer really meant, and I certainly didn’t know any writers, since I came from an immigrant background and my family was full of businessmen. Meanwhile, my friends were primed to become doctors and engineers, and any mention of books made them cringe. Nonetheless, what I knew was I enjoyed reading stories, and at some point, I wanted to recreate the experiences authors took me on for other people—people like me.

When I sat across from my professor, he smiled like he knew it all along. He was a writer himself, and he had already read my writing for his class. His advice was for me to journal as much as I could. Through journaling, I would learn how to turn my life experiences into stories on the page. That’s what gave me permission to write. I don’t know if I would have started writing if I had not spoken to that professor, or maybe it would have taken me longer to give myself permission. I will never know!

In reality, however, you don’t need anyone’s permission to start writing, painting, or walking around with a camera and taking pictures. But what happens is that we don’t think we’re good enough, and at the beginning of anything, we really aren't, so we seek other people’s approval before we start. It’s human, but once you become aware of it, it turns into resistance—an excuse for procrastination.

I don’t think I’m a good writer. I hate watching my own videos; my voice makes me want to disappear. But paradoxically, I enjoy writing and making videos. I get a sense of deep satisfaction out of toying around with a story or editing a video. After a writing session or recording a video, I feel… good. Partly, it’s because I’m passionate about these things. On the other hand, it’s because they are hard to do, and my persistence to do them regardless of the reward that I might or might not receive makes me feel like I’m growing in some way.

So, maybe you need this and maybe you don’t, but take this as permission to do the thing you are waiting for someone else to give you permission to start.

📖 Books I’m reading?

This is a little embarrassing to share, but I’m reading The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger for the first time. I just feel like it’s once of those books that everyone has read either in high school or because everyone is talking about it. It was referenced many times while I was in my writing program, and I have always nodded like I knew what folks were talking about when they used examples from the book. I’m here after all, and I’m enjoying it so far. I think it’s the voice of the narrator that makes it unique, but I haven’t got too deep into the story. So more soon!

🔖 Quote I’m pondering

There’s only one difference between published and unpublished writers, and it is this – the first group see their work in print on the shelves of Waterstone’s or Tesco or online at Amazon; the second group are yet to have physical evidence of the hours, weeks, years spent fashioning words into their patterns. You are already a writer.

— Kate Mosse

📸 Through My Lens

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Thank you for reading!

Mohamed