Every good story is about transformation. Somewhere along the path of the hero’s journey, something within him or her will change. The change might be internal; it might be external, but it is always there.
I’ve begun my own pathway to transformation. Step 1 – I reclaim myself. The past few years have been challenging ones. Stress, a relationship with a toxic and abusive stepdaughter, grief, loss… I’ve let all of these negative things have power over me, so much that there are days when I hardly recognize myself. I was helping a friend catch an audition on camera a month or so ago, and, when I was watching it, I wondered who the chubby woman in the kitchen was. Then, it hit me. That was me.
Enough. I began the baby steps in my pathway to transformation. I cleaned house – literally and figuratively. I let go of objects that were lying around, useless. I abhor clutter; it makes me feel itchy. Disempowered. And so, away it went. Round 1 complete.
What does this have to do with writing? Oh, my darlings. Just wait and see.
Round 2 – This isn’t me. I’m the girl who fenced onstage and wielded a broadsword. I’m the girl who flew over 6 foot fences on top of a 17.5 hand Thoroughbred. I’m the girl who scuba dives, who thirsts for adventure, who’s plunged headfirst into the Northern Amazon. This tired, sad woman isn’t me.
And so, after receiving a heads up from a friend, I found myself being cast in a test group 
for a fitness infomercial led by none other than Greg Plitt. Yes, ladies – and gents. Doctor Manhattan’s body. In the flesh, so to speak.
Greg is a force of nature; he’s chiseled, absolutely shredded… and an inspiring motivational speaker. I’ve been working out each day this week, working out to the point of collapse… and yet I’ve made it through.
This has nothing to do with writing. Patience is a virtue, sugarbritches. Hang on.
Today, Greg talked about acceptance… and how our society has embraced the dark side of acceptance. We’ve accepted “I am okay how I am” to a degree that we now accept less than what we can achieve. We accept a life that is less than what we deserve. We accept fast-food, bad entertainment, broken relationships… because we’ve programmed ourselves to.
This was during the last ten minutes of the workout, the cool-down, stretching phase. I worked my hamstrings, trying to get down a little further than the day before, while Greg’s words danced in the hot air. I thought about my life… and I thought about writing. I thought of the writer who, last week, when we were discussing his screenplay, and the revisions/rewrites that needed to be done, said “But that’s so much work!”
I made a pledge to myself this morning – I will never again accept second-best. Out of me, out of my life, and out of my work. Adequate is not okay. I must be the absolute best that I can be… and then I need to raise the bar higher. Life is an uphill battle. The only way to succeed is to roll that boulder up the hill. Keep pushing it. Never let it roll back down.
I hope you are able to join me in this pledge.
Now, go write.
HRH, Princess Scribe
Princess Scribe's Blog 
Do me a favor, Your Highness. Change those words at the top right of your page. Words have power. You are not a struggling anything. Not any more. Claim your power.
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🙂 Done!
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Great blog. I feel like I’m in a state of acceptance at the moment in my life and I feel like I deserve more than what I have. Don’t get me wrong. Things have improved but I still have a long way to go. I think for me, people get comfortable with a certain way of living so they accept it. They get used to it. At least, that’s how I can get at times.
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The comfort zone is a place of danger for creatives. 🙂 Get out while you can!!!!
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This was a wonderful thing for me to read right now, as I debate and stress how much effort to give what I am doing versus what I want to be doing. I believe I can do better. I don’t want to settle for “OK enough.”
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You can do it!!!
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Lovely post! I agree: never settle. However, I find acceptance is freeing when used right. Bare with me. Acceptance is not synonymous with inaction. Example: accept that rewrite requires a lot of work. Accept that workouts suck some days. But that shouldn’t mean you don’t do it.
Heroes do this all the time. Achilles entire journey was learning to accept his fate (which was to die and he knew it), and when he did, he became larger than life.
So go show kick ass on that rewrite. Push that workout a bit farther. Never settle for second best, and accept that, although it can be small smoldering piece of hell at times, it’s so worth it.
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Acceptance is a thing, which like any thing, can be used well – or used badly. While there are some noble things about the “I’m okay, you’re okay” culture, we’ve used this acceptance as an excuse. We let ourselves be lazy. We do not fight through the pain.
This kind of acceptance gets one nowhere. It’s static – and without transformation. Without transformation, you have lost your story. I prefer to be the author of my life; I will no longer accept second best. 🙂
Oh, the rewrite is not one of mine. It’s for a writer I was helping. 🙂
~ hrh
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Beautiful post and something I really needed to hear. I get so complacent because I absolutely detest when things are out of order. Well, guess what? Life is out of order on a regular basis and I need to put my big girl panties on and deal with it. Thanks for the virtual kick in the pants!
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My pleasure! 😉
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Aw, no one’s ever called me sugarbritches before. 🙂
Good for you! Writing is such a sedentary pursuit, I think it’s even more important for us to work on our physical health. It’s fabulous that you’re taking charge of yours.
This acceptance business certainly is a tricky thing. The popular focus on it comes, of course, in reaction to all the messages we get that can make us feel bad about ourselves. And it’s good to counteract that. I think the trick comes in figuring out how to counteract it while encouraging ourselves to change anything we want to.
It might help if we tweaked the statement, “I’m okay just the way I am,” to “I’m okay no matter what.” I find that a more useful way to put it, and I like to add, “and I can change anything I want to about myself or my life, any time I want to.”
As for being “the absolute best that I can be,” as a life-long perfectionist I tend to think differently about that, because otherwise I’d expect the absolute best right now, which is neither reasonable nor realistic. I can’t, for instance, hold off sending a script out until it’s the best it can be, because I’d never send it out – it can always be better. I have to allow myself to feel like it’s merely good enough. I spent five years working on one poem, and I still look at it and notice places it could be improved. The more I write, of course, the more my craft improves, and the better my “good enough” becomes.
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