"Sumbitting it was the victory!" A writer's insight into letting go of expectations.
Leslie Casey is a poet from Ontario, Canada. After she completed one of our courses, she reached out to let me know that she had submitted a poem for publication. I congratulated her for taking this wonderful step forward, and her response touched me deeply.
“I have no expectations; submitting was the victory. It felt wonderful!”
How beautiful to approach sharing your work in this way. To set a goal and celebrate achieving it, letting go of expectations for what happens next.
All too often, we place our expectations on outcomes and responses that we can’t control. Instead, we can learn from Leslie that the achievement is believing in ourselves enough to write and finish our work, and the reward can be found in the act of sharing.
As a special gift, Leslie has agreed to share her poem – and the path she journeyed to get here.
I had not written anything for a long time. With my husband’s diagnosis of a life-changing (and ultimately terminal) illness, I became a full-time caregiver. Even before that, however, I was stuck. As a writer, I was results driven. Every poem I wrote had to be perfect; an unattainable goal that resulted, eventually, in a loss of confidence so great, I stopped writing.
My husband’s illness forced me, in many ways, to let go of control. Retreat for the Writer’s Soul freed me to write again, to see that the process of writing, itself, was the gift. Sharing was the gift. For the first time, the act of finishing a poem and sending it out into the world was a win, regardless of the outcome.
Every writer has to find what works for them, but I recommend writing wildly. Write when you’re exhausted, when there are a million reasons not to. Write when you’re vulnerable. Share your stories, your poems. Find an interactive space like Retreat for the Writer’s Soul, a place where you discover soul sisters/brothers, where you begin to believe in yourself again, to honour your imperfect, amazing gift.
Sharing my poem here is like reading it to my husband, Colin, who was always my first reader and an astute and gentle critic. I am left broken and filled with gratitude.
