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My thing is feeling guilty for being less in touch/online (i.e. not up to speed with my friends/what people are talking about) yet also knowing that it's better for me when I'm not online as much.

as long as you feel bad often you're doing a great job at being a creative ;)

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Oh yes, I know, the pressure to be online all the time, having takes on all the things. When real life takes places outside of these little screens!

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Jul 13, 2023Liked by Cindy DiTiberio

I am always struggling with the writer envy thing too. So hard to not sometimes but I’m also always reminding myself it’s not a competition. And often when I talk with writers I’ve been envious of they have the same feelings about someone else. It’s kind of comforting to know it’s something a lot of us deal with!

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Oh my gosh, I think it is so common and you are right, that even those we are envious of have the same feelings of envy of others. I'm trying to sit with the fact that there are so many ways to be "successful" when you put your words out into the world and there isn't actually a great way to measure your impact. You just have to trust what you are doing and that it has value. Ah, the life of an artist.

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Ooof I FEEL THIS. Thanks for writing so honestly Cindy!

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Thank you! I really loved your post on the post pub let down. I think we all are experiencing so many similar things and when we put our vulnerable parts out there, it helps us all feel seen. Glad to be in these trenches with you.

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Thank you for including Dear Dilate and a resounding yes from me. I suffer from comparison especially when life is business and I feel I can’t dedicate time to write as much as I’d like to and others seem to do it so prolifically.

I do hate that being a successful creative and or a writer requires you to be a marketer etc and constantly push on social media platforms for people to find your writing and if I get tumbleweeds I start to doubt my whole existence 🙃

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I know. I sometimes wonder what brilliance and insight would come if I took a Sabbatical from putting content out for others and being a part of the conversation and just let my creativity flow where it wants to take me, rather than be diverted into my filter for what is marketable.

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Jul 12, 2023Liked by Cindy DiTiberio

"I realized that rather than compete with other writers (hello patriarchy!) what I want is to be in conversation with those who can deepen my own insight. That together, our words provide more light, more nuance, more wisdom." YES to this--thank you Cindy, for this post (and the shout out). So glad to be in all of your good company in this soup.

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I'm at a moment in my life where I've feeling very bad for myself for the "sorry" state of my writing career and that competition/envy demon is really present. Thanks for this post.

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Ugh, I feel you. There are so many seasons in a writers life and it can be really hard to not envy those in a different one.

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