Aidan Young

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Uncertainty of Acclaim

“…What matters in life is not whether we receive a round of applause; what matters is whether we have the courage to venture forth despite the uncertainty of acclaim.” 

-Count Rostov, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

One thing is sure: there will never be a shortage of options for where our attention goes. 

I can just as easily pick up my phone and spend 30 minutes in the endless scroll of social media as I can in the chapters of a novel.  

There are endless choices these days. 

Though it is a choice I rarely make without forethought, I can just as easily choose to sit down and write. 

This morning, I am writing in an attempt to honor a commitment I made in a moment of clarity and aspiration; to share things that mean something to me, to shed light on my journey in the hope that it will brighten some small part of yours.

I’m not writing because I feel like it; I rarely “feel like it.”  I’m writing because I know that I want to be a writer, and to be a writer one must write. 

Today I showed up. It turns out that it’s scary for me to show up. Every. Single. Time.

Yesterday, I saw this quote: 

“We grow fearless when we do the things we fear.”

I’ll let you know if ever become fearless.

What I CAN do is be courageous, despite the uncertainty of acclaim. Today, and again tomorrow. 

And if you’re paying attention, thank you.  I know you have endless options and it means a lot that you gave me a moment.

Just one more thing, before you go: what would you shine a light on today? 

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