Up: [[Tell About It MOC]] I’ve been trying to figure out the sharing thing for years, literally years! I make lists — [[Pros and Cons of Sharing]]. I recognize that I don’t have to do things with the same driven crazy intensity of my previous life — [[When it came to sharing, I had fallen into my old trap of all or nothing thinking]]. That’s [[What Writing Used to Be For Me]], and not just books but also my blog in [[My History of Online Sharing]]. An alternative, for example, is the poet, Alison Luterman, doing a newsletter just on the first day of the month. There’s a lot of support for me sharing, including an astrological report telling me [[The Work I'm Meant to Do]]. And there's also the fact that [[Writing Keeps You Alive After You Die]], a not insignificant point. One of the reasons I avoid sharing is [[The Vulnerability of Publishing]]. I recognize that [[Sharing Writing is a Conversation]] and the fact is, I only want to talk with people in LYT and my in-person friends and acquaintances. Social media has made me leery of the anonymous ‘other’ and of the extremes of people who are dismissive of what they read and those who want to rescue the writer. [[We Can't Fix Being Human. Don't Try.]] Contrary to who I was in the past, I now [[Don’t Write to Help Other People]]. I question the often expressed conviction that [[The World Needs to Hear From You]]. Plus it's [[So Much Work to Tell A Story]] and I'm at a point in life where I don't want that work. Plus I believe that the impact can be there even if not publicly shared. [[On the Relationship Between Artists and Society]] But all of that aside, there are times when I feel real excitement for possibilities. I've taken a course, [[Substack - A Course on Starting]], but don't want to do that level of work. Still, I know that [[The Comfort of a Project is No Small Thing to Me]]. I believe that [[Heightened Awareness is the Gift]] that comes from paying the close attention that is demanded when my interest is in sharing mystery. I see the advantage of a body of work, working on a theme, rather than disparate pieces. But I’m not at all sure this demands public sharing other than for the very good reason that I’m likely to make more effort for others than I do for myself. There's also the interesting point that certain people, when you read them, they make you want to write. Who are my people and what does that say about what matters most to me? The biggest insight for me is that sharing in the past was never about recognition for me but it was big time about contribution, about believing I didn’t have value if I wasn’t making a difference to others. My question always was What do people need? Now it’s about satisfaction in the process. Do I enjoy my day more when I write or create and communicate that in some form than the days when I don’t? Yes. That’s the only answer I need. After that everything else is detail and logistics. > [!map] [[Efforts that Interest Me]] > [!map] [[Blue Box]]