Finding Courage in Words and Uncertainty

Shortly before the COVID 19 Pandemic and social distancing was the current state of the world, I had the honor of listening to several
well established authors share insights, tips and advice from their careers. I find the timing of this event kind of ironic as we had not closed
everything down and we were not self quarentining yet, but as I saw the events unfold over the past few weeks I began to identify with how
to speak my truth. One of the key messages of this forum was to speak up and become an authentic version of yourself, a concept that a
mentor had been instilling in me for the last year or so as I have been in recovery for my addiction issues. I really didn't see myself as
useful, but my passion for writing has always been a place of solitude.

One author who had been published in magazines such as Rolling Stone said " as a writer you are really an honest witness". That is how
I have personally felt over the last couple of weeks as I see the masses hoard toilet paper, wear masks, and frequently practice basic
hygiene. is this not a skill that when you see people apply you are left puzzled as to why it wasn't just common sense? Honesty is not
always appreciated and this could be perhaps one of the key examples of that, but on the other end of the spectrum, your silence will not
protect you either. I have learned from my own experiences that staying quiet and not sharing honestly what is going on in my life can be
dangerous to my recovery and in order to be courageous one must be self aware.

Another key to courageous writing means challenging the status quo. I have always found this to be a character trait I resonated with
even when I didn't hear it suggested as a pro writing tip. We live in society of fake fabricated media and some times people just believe
everything at face value. I was afraid to share my writing for many years, but as I became an adult it seemed like fear was just
procrastination in disguise. I have learned to take more risks over the years and hope to apply more of these strategies I have learned in the future.