Friday Thoughts | Pedastools, Strangers and a Leap of Faith

Oh what an eventful day!

I say eventful because it’s true. I went to about seven sessions over the course of Friday. Seven sessions of constant learning and complete consciousness. I can honestly say my overall opinions from the day were completely unexpected. There was not one session where I thought ‘what the hell am I doing here?' Instead I sat there, enthralled in the conversations and I let my mind delve into each one, picking out what really mattered to me. 

I heard stories about each writer’s lives, their families and their youth. It got me thinking about pedestals, and how unjustly we place writers and performers on these unrealistic platforms. When you are sitting there in an audience, sitting with keen eyes and ready ears you don’t realize it. You don’t realize that they are just people. If you are fortunate enough to sit and gaze at these individuals and listen as they slowly remove the veil separating you from them, then that is when you will realize it. 

It happens when these individuals talk about their craft. Not in the surface level way, but when they speak about the foundations of writing or performing, and how they subject that to themselves. It amazes me how they can open up in front of strangers; strangers no doubt that are there to listen, but still without knowing these strangers, they do it. The trust they place in their audience is incredible; they trust us enough to reveal what is hidden in the deepest chambers of their soul. 

We often see it in their writing, as secrets hidden within the words. Yet at festivals such as this, we are not reading them from a page, we are reading their physical being. We see them for who they are as people in the everyday form. This I think equalizes us. It breaks down the mindset that they are different from us. 

Over the course of the festival I realized that I have always felt a fear factor towards writing. I’ve never felt confident enough to pursue it, even now I write with so much caution and restraint. These writers however, don’t. They write with such confidence, trust and humility. I guess to be a successful writer it's necessary. I guess sometimes you just have to take a step and move away from whatever is holding you back. Especially if what is holding you back is what you want to become.

So I have made a decision, right here and right now. I am no longer going to allow the thought of pursuing the art of writing scare me. Nor will I let a writer intimidate me, they are people and I am a person. We are the same and we are different. That is what makes us equal. 

Starting now I will pursue what I have a passion for, whether that's writing or not. Either way, I am leaping forward, not back.