Man, I hope I sound like that?

But I don’t really look the part?

I can never do that, say that, be that… can I?

I’m sure these questions are relatable to all of you to some degree. We all have the voices right? The good and the bad—the encouraging voices that pump you up, but then you convince yourself they’re fake. . . And then all you’re left with is a lie you bought that says nah you can’t.

I recently became a new composer for the Odyssey and I’m still in shock that I followed through and applied. But the beauty in this is I’m here writing, which is something I should have been audaciously doing all my life because it is all I have ever thought about.

Writing was and has been so much more than just putting words to paper. I’ve come to learn that it’s vulnerable, powerful and relieving experience that I always wanted to get lost in. I stopped writing fiction when I was about 14 and entered high school. I remember feeling the urge to write, but never committing myself to sitting down and composing something meaningful. My perfectionism, my devil, drove me away from the one thing I felt confident in.

I remember talking to this guy once who had been writing fiction his entire life. I gave him a brief background of my insecurities and hold backs and said, “I just don’t think I’m good. And if I’m not good then I don’t think I want to put myself out there. But I would love to become a writer someday; I just don’t know when that will be.” The reaction on this man’s face was complete bewilderment. Squinting his eyes with confusion, he replied, “If you want to write, then you should be writing. You don’t become a writer, you either are or you aren’t. Whether you’re good or bad, if you want to write, then you’re a writer.” I’m surprised I didn’t go home and have a romantic evening with my laptop and coffee after he told me that! But that was just one encounter along with many others and I finally stopped with the excuses. Though I still love writing fiction, as I’ve entered adulthood for the past few years, I’ve had a hunger to talk about subjects that can target multiple audiences. I’m excited to be a voice to some and also give a respectable insight for others.

You need to understand that you are robbing the world of something beautiful if you are afraid to express a passion that’s rooted in your soul. You are robbing yourself of living the life you were called to live. If you allow the oppression of others, the perfectionism, the negative voices in your head to drive you away from your passions, then you’re always going to be that person that shares the quotes on Facebook about living life to the fullest without actually doing it. I refused to let myself be that person any longer.

Join the team, sketch that flower, sing that song, take that adult hip-hop class (that’s still on my list)—Whoopi Goldberg said it best in Sister Act 2, “If you wake up in the morning and you can’t think of anything but singing first, then you should be singin’ girl.”