(Look for this week’s #ThursdayThoughtfulness questions after the jump.)
This Week’s Questions: How do you see yourself as the “master of your fate” and/or the “captain of your soul”? What challenges have you faced as you’ve pursued your goals and dreams? Has anyone tried to sway you away from your path or questioned your decisions? Or have most people been supportive of your life choices?
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Sara Letourneau 
I guess I am a master of my fate by setting my own goals and working for them despite everyone and everything else. I want to be a successful writer and I will not give up. But of course, there’ve been people trying to convince me it is impossible, especially because I’m from a small European country. I will not let geography stop me, words don’t care about distance and neither do I.
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Absolutely. Focus and persistence are important in achieving our goals, but doing so without bending to others’ opinions is key to being the “master of our fate.” Because if we do listen to them, we can very easily get derailed. So you have the right attitude, Kristina. Keep writing, keep learning, and keep pursuing.
And you’re also right about geography not being as much of a boundary as it used to be. Look at what writers and other people have been able to do because of the Internet. 😉
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I’ve been confronted with skepticism, but I think by the time I decided to pursue writing, I’d already spent a majority of my life trying to create that space and freedom to follow my passion. It came down to the right circumstances and giving myself permission to pursue what I love. I left a job to become a writer, because the job I had drained all my energy and there was nothing left to give to writing. Trying to explain to a large office that I was leaving and why I was leaving was tricky. I had to tell a bunch of attorneys that I was leaving to become a writer, and I had never told any of them that I was even interested in writing. My favorite part though was explaining to professionals who clearly didn’t have any artistic desires, why I wanted to write. The look of skepticism would turn to light that I could see in their eyes as I talked about my passion.
Now my greatest battle is with myself. By now, my family has seen a shift in me between doing a job I was great at to pursuing something that I love. And I think my happiness keeps everyone else happy as well.
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Wow. Good for you, Mandie. I really admire you for your courage in taking that step career-wise so you could create more time and (most importantly) energy for your craft. And I know the feeling when it comes to trying to explain creative pursuits to people who don’t share the same passion, more or less from family. But over the past few months (ever since I told them I was going to the Iceland Writers Retreat, actually), I’ve seen a shift in their behavior toward my writing. They’re more supportive than they were before, even though I’m still a ways away from being published. It’s very encouraging.
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That’s awesome, Sara. I think it’s like the saying, lead by example. If you take yourself and your writing seriously, then eventually other people will too.
I’m excited to hear how the Iceland retreat goes. I’m sure it will be full of information and inspiration. There is something so intoxicating about being around other writers.
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Oh, I’m sure it will be. That exact feeling you described is how I’ve felt the two times I’ve gone to Writer’s Digest Conference in NYC. And between the countryside tours and cultural immersion of the Iceland retreat, I wouldn’t be surprised if the feeling is stronger during this trip. 🙂
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Like Mandie, my greatest battle is with myself. I am master and captain but I’ve got mutineers and saboteurs on board! And outsiders cannot really deter and deflect me unless they resonate with my own doubts and fears. But more people have been supportive even when they do not share or fully understand my dreams. Both doubt and confidence are mostly inside jobs.
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*lol* Don’t we all, John? I have a few mutineers aboard mine, too. Though maybe “frightened children” with the names of Worry and Doubt might describe them more accurately.
Your answer is along the same lines as Mandie and Kristina. The external (other people) doesn’t always deter us from pursuing our dreams as much as the internal (ourselves) does. My family wasn’t always supportive of my writing, but that didn’t stop me from doing it. In fact, it almost fueled the fire further. Funny how that happens sometimes, huh?
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“Though maybe “frightened children” with the names of Worry and Doubt might describe them more accurately.
A good way of looking at them, and actually recommended by some therapies!
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I love this quote! A good amount of people have been supportive of my career as a writer but a few have said things like “Are you /still/ writing?” And “Is there any money in that?” Or have tried to convince me to pursue different careers. Getting the encouragement in the blogging community has definitely given me the strength to pursue my dreams.
Storitorigrace.blogspot.com
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You’re not alone in the “Steering Away” Department. A lot of writers go through that, especially before they’re published. I used to hear it quite a bit from my family when I was younger. But like I mentioned to Mandie last week, I’ve noticed a change in their behavior over the past… few months? The past year? It’s hard to say when it started, but they’ve become more encouraging and supportive toward my writing, probably because I’m taking it seriously.
So it’s good to know that you have support from people in your offline and online lives, too. It always helps, but ultimately WE – and no one else – are the only ones who can stop us from our own dream pursuits. 😉
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I guess my whole “relationship story” is something like that: most people didn’t believe it could be “serious” with a guy met online who lived on another continent (and not at the edge of it). Yet, years later, here I am, married and living in America with him. From the start to the end we worked hard for it, leaving nothing to chance or hope.
I guess I should take example from myself and apply the same to writing. 😉
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That is a GREAT example, Joanna. 🙂
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A wonderful quote! One that always inspires! With the publication of Eléonore last year, I proved to myself that I could be the master of my fate, now I’m trying every day to stop myself from overthinking and stressing, to make time for myself to pursue the life I want even when life throws those nasty curve balls. The problem is that as much as we are the captains of our souls, we’re also the discontent soldiers trying to incite a revolution ;P
Luckily, I do have the support of people who try to keep me positive and quell those rabble-rousers 🙂
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Thanks, Faith! I loved that quote the moment I first read it. 🙂
“Discontent soldiers trying to incite a revolution.” XD That’s so true, though. We may want to be “masters of our fate,” but we can never have complete control over everything. Sometimes those curveballs come flying at us. Other times, we have to do what’s necessary or expected of us, even though we might not like it. I think, in the end, the most we can do is that the decisions we make or actions we take are in our best interests. That way, we’re not giving away our personal power to others unintentionally. And like you mentioned, having people who support us in our endeavors is a great help.
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For me, this quote means I put my trust in God and follow his guidance, steering the ship’s wheel to wherever He may lead me. Many disapprove, and call people like me crazy, criticizing me for my beliefs or for my dreams of writing, trying to sway my decisions, and that’s a big challenge to overcome.
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It is challenging to overcome, I agree. Though I also think that if you follow that path long enough, and if you take yourself seriously, your critics might eventually become supporters. That’s something I’ve noticed over the past few months in my own life.
Anyways – I like your interpretation of this quote and its personal meaning for you. That’s one of the beautiful things about meaningful quotes, and also about Thursday Thoughtfulness. Everyone can take their own individual meaning from each “thought” and see how it applies to their life.
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