What It Means To Be Me

"You are a writer. You just need to write."

So said the book I downloaded for free onto my Kindle. Yet another book on how to write. And basically, it's the same advice every other book on writing has said. All the other advice is just padding: sometimes useful padding, sometimes superfluous stuffing.

I am a writer - I just need to write.

The question I need to ask myself every day is, "What have I written today? In what way have I behaved like a writer today?" Not, "Is it good writing or is it bad writing, but simply, is it written?"

Then I got to thinking about what else I am, for being a writer is not the all of me.

I am a woman: "in what ways have I been a woman today?"
I am a wife: "in what ways have I been a wife today?"
I am a mother and a grandmother: "in what ways have I been a mother and a grandmother today?"
I am a craftswoman: "in what ways have I been a craftswoman today?"
I am a bookbinder: "in what ways have I been a bookbinder today?" Recently I realised that the word I always use for what I do - 'bookmaker' - means something else and I wondered why I avoid the correct term. But that's a whole 'nother story.
I am a yeoman farmer: "in what ways have I been a yeoman farmer today?"
I am a homemaker: "in what ways have I been a homemaker today?"
I am a friend: "in what ways have I been a friend today?"

I am Cally: in what ways have I been Cally today?

It is not enough to be mindful of the world in and around me. I also have to create my reality. It is not enough to say, "I am a writer." I also have to write.