It’s the Journey
I’ve always hated the “inspirational” saying, It’s the journey, not the destination. 24 hours to Florida in the backseat of your car with your sister as a kid? Nope. A long flight to New Zealand with young children? Nope. The journey was always just drudgery.
But now I think I was wrong. Recently I travelled to Halifax to visit my best friend. I was excited to go! You know, excited for the destination. But I also found myself excited about the flight: an hour and a half of just me and my book.
This bolt-of-lightning awareness made me reframe my whole attitude toward that insidious phrase. Maybe the journey could be part of the experience, not an obstacle I needed to overcome on my way there.
Maybe that’s a better way to approach my writing life, too. It’s not about getting a manuscript finished, or published, or purchased, because as I’ve learned, with my debut novel now out in the world, it’s not done! Interviews, events, articles, podcasts, are all the next step in my writing career. So if my destination was simply a book out there in the world, then yes, I’ve arrived—but there’s so much more to enjoy. It’s like… (wait for it…) the whole writing process, from brainstorm to draft to revision to connecting with readers is the journey! That I can enjoy.
So now I’ve profoundly altered my worldview. See how impactful writing can be? 🙂