You Do You

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I saw a post on Facebook today, and it lodged itself into a nook in my brain. It was something about not being sorry about what type of person they are. It got me thinking about so many things.

I’ve been upfront about the fact that I’m writing a book, but I haven’t talked about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that I think about as I’m doing it.

For instance, there’s cussing in my book. Does there have to be? No, there doesn’t, but I think it fits the character and the situation and to be totally honest, I cuss as well, so it’s going to stay.

There are also adult scenes and situations. There have been at least a couple scenes where I’ve been crying as I’ve written them. But again, I don’t want to cut them because it helps the reader understand more about a character’s motivation.

I’m just a touch over halfway done writing it, and so far there haven’t been any juicy love scenes, but I’m not ruling that out. I think it makes a lot of sense later, when I get further along in the story. Plus, once my editor has her day with it, so many things could change.

I know that not all my friends and acquaintances will be okay with this. I understand, and I realize that not everyone I know will want to read my book. That’s okay. I’m pretty sure this is the way we become aware of who our people are.

I’ve heard the saying that if you’re writing for everyone, you’re writing for no one, so I’m going to stand my ground on this.

The whole idea of the book isn’t something that I question. A friend of mine pointed me toward a news article about a real life situation that happened in Sheridan County, Nebraska, decades ago, and my mind simply would not let it go.  

There are certain things that come to us each day that I’ve learned not to question. Something inside of me knows which to choose and I’ve become pretty decent at listening to that authentic voice. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

​Proving my point

Recently, in the book Simple Abundance, there was a passage that said an intuitive nudge can be “the inner knowing that helps us arrive at the right place at the right time so that we can be swept away by the benevolent flow of synchronicity that gets us where we’re meant to be as easily as the Universe can arrange it.”

Wow. That’s exactly why I had to write this book. I hope there will be other instances so this isn’t the only book I write, but we’ll all have to stay tuned to see.

Finally, I have to bring up a song I keep hearing. It’s called Younger You by Miley Cyrus. There’s a stanza to the song that I love:

Hey you, it’s younger you

I know your story isn’t done (literally, ha!)

But do you love who you’ve become?

Aww, that takes me back to the little kid who really only wanted to be a writer when she grew up. I hope you’re still in touch with your own younger you, and I hope you’re staying true to them. I think that person we want to become as a kid is so much more in touch with your authentic self than the person who gets shaped by society and Lord knows who else, we grow into.