Notable Quotable: Insecurity

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” –Vincent Van Gogh

Ah, that was a push in the direction I needed. I’ve been saying for so long that I’m stalled in my writing, but guess what? I’m not writing! Maybe that’s why I’m so stalled. Gee, ya think?

I suffer a very common insecurity that writers often experience: I sit around and say “I can’t write.” Followed by those self-defeating thoughts like “Who am I kidding? Who’s going to want to read what I have to say?” and “I’m not good enough” and “I can’t compare to and will never be as good as (insert author name here).” It’s a vicious cycle and one that I need to get out of already.

So if we follow the logic here in this quote, whatever we say we can’t do, just start doing it and we’ll be proven wrong. I like it. I think I’ll take a page from Van Gogh’s book and just start writing dammit and silence that voice inside me once and for all!

What about you? What is it that you continue to say you are incapable of doing? What would happen if you just started doing it? Does this quote spark something in you?

Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night
(courtesy of Pixabay)