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Freedom from Performance

"Every writer experiences this. At some point in your journey, you find yourself writing for the approval of others, not for pure love of the craft. You’re no longer satisfied with your passion, and there’s nothing you can do about it. All these royalty checks, all this blog traffic — you’re stuck...Stop writing for accolades, and start writing for passion....When you stop writing for readers’ affections, your work will affect more people...."
From You Are A Writer by Jeff Goins. This is one of the most helpful thoughts I read over Christmas. It reinvigorated my approach to writing and other things I enjoy doing! It so easy to do things with an eye on the audience. It is natural to want to be commended. For people to admire us. We all long to be commended, but what Jeff Goins shows is that when the search for accolades becomes our preoccupation, we stop being effective. Not only is our work no longer being done for the right reasons, the fire that burns within us for creativity also dies. The reason it dies is because no accolades will ever be good enough. The ego is a monster that is never satiated. Only when I write for the love of writing as a gift from God is my writing able to find its true purpose. The paradox here is that freedom from performing for others leads to performance. 
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