Sh!t I Learned Today: Learning to not Give a Shit

I was pretty naïve when I started this whole writing thing. I was deluded. No, I didn’t think I was going to be some big overnight, sensation. That wasn’t my delusion. For some reason, I thought this writing thing was going to be amazing and fulfilling and make me so happy and be like a dream every day. And truly it’s like that some days.

But some days this sucks. That’s the shit I’m learning, slowly but surely.

And the reason it sucks is because people feel the insatiable urge to insert their opinions into my everyday life. No, this life isn’t their own. But for some reason, they feel the urge to pass judgment on it or mock me or belittle me. It’s kind of given me a complex.

To set the record straight: I write books. Sure that means I’m sitting on my butt most of the day. That might even mean I don’t go outside all day except to open the door for my dogs. And I’ll give you one more juicy morsel: sometimes I even watch daytime television. So when you picture me sitting at home, watching TV, getting fat, and not doing crap with my life, some days that might be true.

But the real picture is that I work my butt off. Yeah, I’m sitting on my butt when I’m doing it, but I’m writing books. I’m outlining books. I’m editing books. I’m promoting books. I’m trying to figure out how to make a living. I’m trying to be happy. To be satisfied. To be content with my life.

So no, I’m not sitting at home all day not doing anything. I’m working my freaking ass off.

Here’s some shit I still have to learn: TO NOT GIVE A SHIT.

That’s it. I shouldn’t care what these people think. Their opinions shouldn’t matter. I shouldn’t feel compelled to defend myself to these morons. I should laugh at them. I should just smile and walk away. Because they don’t matter.

And you should do the same to if this bothers you like it bothers me.

You should only care about your opinion. You should care about what makes you happy, and that’s probably writing your books. So write your books. Let your characters drop F-bombs if you want them to. You say the f-bomb if you want to. Who deemed that a curse word anyway? I want to meet the idiot that said, “Hey this word is a bad word.” And who even made that word anyway?

AND WHO CARES?!?

You shouldn’t. They shouldn’t. But they do. Which means you’re probably doing something right. Or something that makes them jealous or insecure. And that’s their demons and their battles. You can only do you. And the good ones will stick around to support you doing you.

So embrace those people who are here to help you and love you. And wish the other haters good luck on their journey to figuring their shit out. And you wish them well on that journey. You hope they figure it out.

Because until then, you don’t give a shit.