"We all have a disability of some kind. A handicap. A flaw, or for most of us, a series of flaws - a whole host of issues, really. We deal with them on a daily basis, whether they're literal and physical, or mental and emotional. We're imperfect. And most of the time our beliefs surrounding our issues or handicaps are even more debilitating than the actual handicap itself. So what I want to talk about here is something a bit more esoteric than what I usually cover, that being the craft of writing and the process of developing a story. That process is a relatively finite one. We have an idea, we beat it out, we outline and prepare, and then we write it as a story. There are steps to that process. There is a beginning, middle, and an end to the process itself, just as there is to the story you're telling.
But in life, and in this endeavor of developing yourself, it's much more difficult to notice the beginning, middle and end. It's not easy to break down your life to a process because life isn't lived in a straight line, even though it may seem that way at times. We go from year zero to life's end. Sure, you could argue that that is technically a straight line that takes you from point A to point Z, but we all know how much of a zig zag life really is, and we all know that each step of the way can lead us toward entirely different directions. While I could quite easily compare life to the writing process, I'm trying to steer clear of that metaphor here - I've touched upon that metaphor in past podcast episodes, and I've mentioned it in the online class I manage. What I want to focus on instead is perspective, and though I talked about perspective in my podcast episode all about Voice and developing your personal story and writing perspective, let's just drop the metaphors entirely. Let's just drop all of it, at least for a few minutes, because I need to be candid here with you all."