My husband just finished reading Atul Gawande’s book “Better”, which is all about the hospital world, and yesterday he shared a paragraph with me that instantly made me smile and reminded me to continue to believe in my writing, myself, and in my blog. It was just what I needed to read after going through some self doubt and self criticism about my writing just a few days ago.  

In his book, Gawande ends with “Afterword: Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant” and following is what my husband sent me and other phrases and quotes I liked from that section:

My fourth suggestions was: Write something. I do not mean this to be an intimate suggestion. It makes no difference whether you write five paragraphs for a blog, a paper for a professional journal, or a poem for a reading group. Just write. What you write need not achieve perfection. It need only add some small observation about your world.

You should not underestimate the effect of your contribution, however modest.

Most of all, by offering your reflections to an audience, even a small one, you make yourself part of a larger world. Put a few thoughts on a topic in just a newsletter, and you find yourself wondering nervously: Will people notice? What will they think? Did I say something dumb? An audience is a community. The published word is a declaration of membership in that community and also of a willingness to contribute something meaningful to it.

So choose your audience. Write something.

I hope that this will inspire you all to continue sharing your thoughts, stories, or ideas, even in those difficult moments. I think it’s a great sense of support knowing that at one point or another we are all feeling the same fears and doubts and in the end we are here to support each other and so are our family and/or friends.