Two-Fifty Tuesday: Jealous of Other Writers’ Success?

Respect Your Own Journey

Not long after we graduated from university, my friend Jeremy, a brilliant writer, got his first book published. Then he moved to Paris and lived in the iconic Shakespeare and Company bookstore. He founded an independent literary magazine, then wrote a successful memoir about his time in Paris. I heard him interviewed on national radio; he’d gone far. 

You know what I was doing when I heard that interview? Washing windows. Of my cookie-cutter suburban home. After a long week at my boring corporate job. Here he was, living La Vie Bohème, and I was living a mundane life. 

But then I read his memoir and I realized there’s a reason I didn’t follow his path. I didn’t want to be the starving artist in the freezing garret. I liked a hot shower and a soft bed. I didn’t want the uncertainty of where my next pennies would come from. 

But I did ditch the boring corporate job. I found teaching. A steady paycheque that also allowed me to immerse myself in stories. Not much time for my own writing, especially not when my own children came along. 

But I made my choices. The right ones for me at the time. And now I’m making different choices. The right ones for me now.

So whenever I feel a twinge of envy when I hear about the success of an author, I remind myself of two things: I don’t know the details of their journey and I respect my own.