“Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate.” – Emerson

Be you at any cost.

It’s a mantra I hold pretty close. I pretend it’s a voice from above or within reminding me that my best hope at flourishing is to embrace the lot that is me.

But what do I do on days when I don’t like me very much?

If I’m smart, I lean in to the parts I don’t like.

Wait! But what if I’m in the midst of external criticism while others are producing stuff that blows me away – or worse… I think their stuff is lame and everyone else is celebrating it – what then? What if this is all happening and deep down, I’m just tired and disappointed with what is showing up in my life?

If I’m committed to being a creative, I go again.

Better yet, I double down on me. Any alternative is a sucker bet. In fact, I’m not even sure there’s an alternative. It may be the most sure wager I know. Of course if there’s truth here, I suspect I’m not the only game in town. It might be time to reclaim your chips too and put ‘em back to work on you.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 8:03 am and is filed under Archives, Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.