Who Is This For?

The clock reads 2:00 AM as I write this. Sometimes I open my captains log in the back of an Uber on the way to dinner, or right after a Zoom call when I should be sending follow-up info. I am a firm believer that if you don't grab the creative flow energy and run with the wild hair idea, it will pass you by and move on to someone else. And then you're sitting there at 4:00 PM three weeks later lamenting "wait, that was MY idea."

I have a book about a tooth fairy universe half written. Half. Written. I stopped because someone asked me who it was for and I didn't have a good answer. My inspiration didn't care about that somewhat practical question. Thinking through the practical answers did. In flow it didn't matter who it was for, it  was simply an idea that needed to be birthed. But I hesitated, and I questioned, and it left me, and right now someone somewhere is wrapping up the finishing details on the map of fairy fun land. Actually, my fairy land wasn't so fun. It was run by the Molar Mob AKA Canine Syndicate, Floss Crime Family, Gingivitis Gang. (The question of, “who is this for?” was not a bad one, given how confusing the concept was.)

When I got overly focused on the "why" of it all, it killed my creative spark. As adults, we always look toward the outcome and lose sight of the joy of creating for the sake of creating and whimsy. But what if there is no deeper reason needed? Create to create. Create because you feel inspired.

It's the same thing with the business.

One year ago, I quit everything to go all in on my start-up Good Grief. At best, I know exactly where this goes (good Grief IPO here we come!). I don't ask, what if this doesn't work? To me that isn't the right question. Asking what if this doesn't work is the same question as asking who is this for. It kills the thing. It leaves one foot out the door. It stops all momentum. We all have a million reasons why we aren't ready to start something. There are a million reasons why something won't work, but I only need one reason it will, and that can be my true north. I focus on why I should vs. why not. So why not me? Why not now?

Nothing good in my life has come from being on the fence. So fuck it, I am all in. The risk is the pain of caring. That is worth the depth that becomes possible with passion. If you can commit fully to something, you will always be okay. Mostly because my greatest fear was not failure, but regret. It was not going all in and one day seeing someone create this thing I always envisioned and having regrets that I let the wild hare pass me by.

And as for the mob fairies, they are still  right where I left them:

So yeah. That's where I left him. Lactose intolerant, morally ambiguous, abandoned mid-verse. Sorry, Seamus. I'll come back for you.

Stay unscripted my loves.

🖤 - EmmyLu