Dare to Share
10. Be The Pebble in the Pond
Most of the values in The Encouragement Manifesto explain themselves. Be Kind, Be Generous, and Stay Positive … they’re pretty straightforward, the sort of things we probably all think about daily, and we act accordingly. Very self-explanatory.
But what about ‘Be The Pebble in the Pond’?
We love that this is way more than one way to interpret the value. is uplifted by the pebbles of encouragement thrown her way from the ocean of talent here on Substack. We all need to feel those ripples of encouragement as we ‘dare to share’ our words.
I am on Substack for this reason: it offers not just socialization but intimacy too—that’s its gift—and with that lead, I open “Why I am on Substack” as the central message of my newsletter. I have found here a world of writers and thinkers who care about the inner life—of discovery and ageless creativity.
To expand on that, I want to explore where the writing comes from and why it had lain in wait. I had known that aggression must be part of the writing, but I feared what must be done to create: Say the unsayable.
I don’t mean the writer must crush another.
I mean the writer must crush herself.
My path to that end was to rediscover the past in the therapist’s chair, not in the writing chair. It took me way too long to get into that chair, but I have to thank for that chair my husband’s announcement (oh so Greta Garbo) “I need to live alone.”
If he had not left me — and he was the straw that broke this camel’s back — if he had not sent me on my journey, I would never have written the memoir that dares to go without fear to the heart of the matter with the question, Who am I?
It is here on Substack that I’ve been posting that memoir. The encouragement I’ve received may seem like a pebble in this ocean of talent. That small splash has given me the closing of the round that we who create so need by being seen, by linking with others who dare to write here, and who - by doing so - dare to open their hearts.
You will have your reasons for waiting or writing. I have mine.
I keep writing because that process — not of catharsis — but of the creation of something other gives my life a fullness I think only the attempt to create art can do.
I live life more fully and deeply through writing.
The writing, and the self-discovery I embarked on through the writing, did bring me through to a place I would never have known without the trials of loss.
Those of us who choose to create art, whether we succeed or not, must have as our mantra: Bird out of the cage, bird on a wire.
Reader, author, professor, radio show host, columnist. Best advice I ever got? ‘Only connect …’ E.M. Forster and I want to connect with you!
So, glad you’re here for essays about the arts, books, movies, all things literary and Write it! that includes a collaboration with Eleanor Anstruther, a dialogue with videos that answer your q’s.
A serial memoir: the good, the bad and the foolish (Oh my!): (Re)Making Love (not what you’re thinking :)!
My mantra: Love is the answer. Now what is the question?
I’m the author of the collected short stories The Woman Who Never Cooked and the novel Who by Fire and that quirky memoir that you’ll find unfolding live.
We do hope you’ll pop by and connect
“I keep writing because that process — not of catharsis — but of the creation of something other gives my life a fullness I think only the attempt to create art can do.”
This rings so loudly!
Encouragement is such a quiet but powerful force—those ripples reach further than we often realize. I love the idea of being the pebble in the pond, not for grand gestures, but for the small, steady impacts that create lasting waves. Writing, in its rawest form, is an act of courage, and the space to be seen and supported makes all the difference.