Your Work Has Value — And So Do You
For years I’ve been the kind of person who gave away her talents for free. A kind person, I thought. Dozens of folks have walked away from me with free prose, free pictures, free tarot readings, free spells, and countless other things that I would give to someone, even someone I just met simply because they asked.
I had to ask myself, “was it really because they asked, though? Is the blame on them? Or is it on me?” No, no one likes to face the mirror, do they? Low self-esteem causes us to do all kinds of things in order to gain other peoples’ approval, including giving away our art or craft for free. Sadly, I was no exception, and I’m sure that if you’re a writer reading this, you can relate. We want people to like our work, and by extension, like us as people, but at what cost?
We live, we learn, we grow, and at some point, I learned that kindness isn’t kind if it hurts you, no matter how much you help the other person. Kindness also isn’t kind if you’re hoping to gain something from it. Giving our work away to impress someone or gain validation is hurting us in more than one way. We don’t get compensated for our efforts, and we establish a relationship where the other person feels that it’s acceptable for them to just take from you without giving anything back. I’ve spoken out before about how people expect tarot or reiki or other spiritual services for…
