"I can't write." It has to be be the phrase I hear most often. People confuse literacy with a desire to be a writer. The notion of "I can't write" is what stands in the way of countless people I've talked to over the years. It's not only unfortunate, it's simply incorrect. If you're reading this, you're literate. You can write. Do you want to write? Do you want to sit day after day, pounding away on a novel or memoir or poem?
The greatest obstacle any of us has to overcome is the voice in our head that tells us we can't write or we can't sing or we can't do whatever it is we want to do.I was raised to believe there was nothing worth doing unless you earned money from doing it. It took me most of my life to shed that fucked up idea. The reason create something is because you have the desire to do so. And if that desire brings you a momentary pleasure, all the better.
Covid-19 has been an eyeopener. My "takeaway" from the last ten months is the realization I have no control over anything except my own thoughts and emotions. The only time I'm sane and happy is when I'm teaching or painting or doing something that takes me out of my own head and into my imagination. I feel as though my "mission" during this pandemic is to help other people reconnect with theirs, as well.