Carpe diem

E Shakespear posted about seizing the day: "I need to look at my time and choose the best uses for it. I've been afraid to throw myself completely into this role. ... It's been easier to hide in a limbo world where I tell myself that I'm working on the book. ... I'm still working on it and it's a safe place to be. But I'm also not finishing the book and learning how to make it better. Years have gone by and I'm still just working on it."

And I flashed instantly to a pair of posts over on Wastepaper Prose (here and here) where S.F. Robertson asked several authors what they would change about their writing journey, if they could. The most common answer? I wish I had started earlier. Over and over, these writers said they wished they had let go of the fear, or made more time, or given themselves permission, sooner than they did.

Now, it's possible that we just don't start things until we're ready. Maybe it takes time for us to be ready. But there's an old song that has a line about how sometimes we live in chains without realizing that we already hold the key (Eagles, "Already Gone"). Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for permission when we don't need permission.

Life passes more quickly than we expect. And it seems to accelerate as we get older. So if there's something we've always wanted to do, it's okay to stop waiting and start doing ... now.