Excuses Are For Assholes

So relax, that means I was an asshole long before you were.

I was 30 years old when I decided to sit down and write morning pages based on Julia Cameron's amazing book, The Artists Way. Check out my site and you’ll see a great article by Gina Soldano that goes in-depth on this. For our purposes here, this is where my excuses ended.

The goal was simple; do something you love and you’ll never work another day in your life, they said. The proverbial they. The ones that already figured it out. And they were right. I was listening with my creative eye. So fifteen years ago I set out to write a novel, self-publish, and then sit back and watch the riches come pouring in.

They didn’t.

I continued to write.

18 months later, my second book was out. Still no riches.

I didn’t know how to market my book (and while I know a little bit more now, it’s still like reading Greek to me).

Another five years passed with almost no creative output. Almost nothing worth talking about in the writing space. Until I made that decision to drop everything and go all in. Truly put everything I had into this one venture, or fade away into obscurity. Just stop chasing my craft and die with a good job, salary, and benefits…because that’s what the proverbial they also said. A different set of they, to be sure, but still annoying.

And so after all of that, without much to show just yet beyond a platform and some friends, I continue my refusal to make excuses. I sit in the chair every day and do the work. It’s the only thing that will make this journey come to life. Walking that wonderful proverbial path less traveled, during the end of winter. The leaves have been long gone and the winter cold has ravaged that path. But in just a few short weeks, Spring will be here, and those trees will begin to bear fruit.

I used the word proverbial a lot in this article. I did it because sometimes you want to make a point. Sometimes you want to make sure that the things you say have some weight. Say something sticky.

I’m still an asshole, but the difference is now I write a lot.

Let’s get the conversation started. Put away your excuses and get in the chair.