Saturday, April 25, 2015

A to Z Challenge - V is for:



V is for Value.

I used to believe that once I was published my life would have more value. My presence on earth would make sense. I wouldn't simply be taking up space.

Yes, I was wrong.

People have value for who they are, not for what they do.

Yet, what is our first reaction when we receive a rejection or worse a bad review? Our value diminishes before our eyes. We think we're no good. We're lousy writers. We should never have thought we could write. Our value is worthless.

Now--that's wrong.

We live to write, but how well we write, how successful we are doesn't measure our value.

Next time you hear that negative speech inside your head, remember you're not here to write. You're writing because you're here. Your value arrived before the story. 

19 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Well said! Our value comes from who we are on the inside.

Pat Hatt said...

That last line sure holds a lot of truth indeed. Here with my rhyming rear

Michelle Wallace said...

"Your value arrived before the story." Thank you for the reminder. We tend to forget this... very quickly!

Stephanie Bird said...

Lovely sentiments. Words of the wise. Thanks!

Vishal Bheeroo said...

You are writing because you are here. Lovely feeling.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

The final line sums it up and is a good reminder.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this inspiring post. It's very important in dealing with ourselves and also teaching our children not to tie self esteem to accomplishment. It can be pretty dangerous and have long lasting effects. It is more appropriate to value effort, self and learning.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

No matter how much remind ourselves not to take things personally, those rejections and bad reviews sometimes feel very personal. Being a professional writer means separating our work from our person.

cleemckenzie said...

You've done a masterful job of putting value where value lies. I loved this post.

Michael Di Gesu said...

"You're writing because you're here. Your value arrived before the story."

Beautifully said!

It's true... if we think back at our writing we have touched at least one reader. That, in itself, has merit and value beyond words...

i b arora said...

deep down we long for acceptability as writers

Carol Garvin said...

Low self-esteem is hard to combat. We need to have motivational posts like this served up every day! :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Joylene - you've touched some true nerves here and reminded us to come back down to earth, and remain there - we are needed, we are of value .. and we can help, we can set standards and we can just be ... ourselves ... wonderful read - cheers Hilary

Nadine_Feldman said...

Amen.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Thanks, everyone!

AJ Lauer said...

I think I need to bookmark this so I can return to it on days that I need a pep talk :)

J.L. Campbell said...

So true, Joylene. We tie our value to things that really shouldn't determine how we feel about ourselves.

Anonymous said...

That's pretty deep. <3

Unknown said...

So true, Joylene. There is so much we can't control so no need to attache our self-worth to what we can or cannot do. I value me even if others don't. (Although sometimes I know I'm too hard on myself, just like you wrote about.)