Mum has asked me to share some quotes and advice that she has found inspirational over the past year. Sounds a bit ‘woo woo’ to me, like she should be skipping about in a cheesecloth skirt singing about 'The Age of Aquarius' but she was quite insistent. She says she had to do a lot of soul searching while writing book two and these quotes encapsulate some of the advice that stuck with her. (I don’t know what soul searching means, but I'm pretty good at looking for peas that have rolled off dinner plates and fallen under the table. I think they're probably similar pursuits.)
"Don't look for evidence that you are not enough because you will always find it. Our worth and our sense of belonging are not negotiated with other people. We carry those inside our hearts." - Brené Brown
"You need to understand the three Aspects of Reality that no one — really, no one — can avoid. Those three aspects are Pain, Uncertainty and Constant Work." – Stutz
"Focus on your own journey and try not to worry about what’s going on in the lane next to you. I know it’s hard, because it feels natural to compare…. Everyone has ups and downs at different moments, and paying too much attention to what other people are getting is only going to slow you down." - Akemi Dawn Bowman
"Stop moving the goalposts. Success can be finishing a short story or a first draft, regardless of what happens next with it. Keep your sense of achievement attached to things that you can control. The rest is out of your hands." - Ericka Waller
If you'd like to find out more about writing that has inspired my mum, you can take a look at the (big!) list of her favourite books on the website.
