A weekend with friends gave me some perspective.
I don’t give myself enough credit for the things that I’ve accomplished, instead getting down on myself about all the things I’ve yet to accomplish. Not only is that not fair but it’s unhealthy.
Growing up in a household with conservative views and Christian values, it sort of became a practice to never talk about my accomplishments because that was prideful and pride is considered sort of the gateway to other sins. So, yeah, it’s something I still struggle with. Obvs.
But there’s got to be some sort of middleground where we can be proud of hurdles we’ve made it over without being prideful. I just don’t know where that is.
Over the weekend, while speaking with friends I haven’t spent much time with on the regular, it was nice when they acknowledged my accomplishments when I had only mentioned them in passing conversation. So maybe I was looking for validation. I’m not sure.
Is seeking validation where we find ourselves falling into pridefulness? Or is that somewhere else, in the hazy gray ether of self-love/appreciation? I’ll have to crack open my Bible and study it better to know where the dividing line is and report back on my findings.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of the authors who write romance, erotic romance, and/or erotica who (outwardly seem to) balance their respective Faiths alongside their writing and who, unbeknownst to them, I look to as mentors in my own journey.
They aren’t banging drums trying to convert others to their beliefs or way of thinking but neither are they hiding. And there’s something very beautiful in that, to me. Of course I want to be fair to them, knowing that the personal struggles they all go through aren’t being put on blast for others to dissect and gawk at. Still, knowing that all of them are successful authors who appear to balance Faith and writing what some would call ‘questionable content’ is reassuring to one such as I.
I have a long way to go. But as I come across other authors who write and who Believe, I am reminded that I am not alone. I will continue to look to the East, even as I keep my fingers on the keyboard.
Anne Gaston 