Periodically I like to repeat my Fishbowl Theory of Life—because I think it's important. So many of us think so often we're the only ones who feel the way we do. But...
I have this theory that we are all standing on the outside of a fish bowl. We can see a couple of people to our left and a couple of people to our right, but we look inside and think we see all these people inside having fun, being the "real" writers or leaders or popular or self-assured people or....whatever our issue might be. And the reality is that EVERYONE is on the outside of the fish bowl and when we think we're looking inside we're really looking through it to the other side and seeing people who are looking back thinking we're the ones inside the fish bowl!
There are different levels of expertise in any group. And that's a good thing! We learn from each other. On any journey, some are farther along the path than others but....we all begin with just one step, no matter what it might be. As we go we find our way.
When I teach my writing classes, I smile every time I think of each of my students finding his or her voice. No matter what comes of what each person is writing, if he or she cares about it, it will change that person in big and little ways one doesn't expect. I tell writers: You will never regret time spent writing what you care about--whether or not it ever gets published.
Can you tell I believe in dreams--and in taking action to make those dreams real?
The next time you feel on the outside of anything in any way, remember, we're all on the outside of that huge fish bowl--we just don't realize the blasted thing is empty!
