Hey friends,
In the last edition of the newsletter, I announced Thinking In Stories, my online course on the art of storytelling. Simply put, the response has been amazing.
Hundreds of you signed up for the waitlist, and many of you reached out directly to express your excitement. Building this course will require significant time and energy on my end, so seeing this response was energizing. Thank you for that. It's not too late to join the waitlist for the beta cohort, so feel free to sign up on the landing page if you haven't already. You will be notified when the course is ready, and will receive updates along the way.
All right. Now on to today’s post, which is a very personal piece.
I’ve wanted to write about my experience as an Asian American for quite some time, but didn’t know how to frame it. Would I use historical anecdotes to justify my perspective? How much of my own life would I draw upon? How much of what’s going on with Asians today would influence my thoughts?
Then one afternoon, I decided to stop asking questions and start writing. And what came out over the course of a few days was a kind of piece I’d never written before. A deeply personal story punctuated with memories that I thought I’d forgotten, but were merely resting until I was ready to awaken them.
Here it is, an open window into this part of who I am. Hope you find it insightful:
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A Thought I've Been Pondering
When Bong Joon Ho won the Oscar for Best Director, he quoted a Martin Scorsese line in his acceptance speech: “The most personal is the most creative.”
I wondered what the link was between the two, and perhaps it comes down to one thing: the overcoming of fear. The most personal parts of ourselves feel scary to reveal, but interestingly enough, our creative potential is actualized when we do what feels scary.
By choosing to tell your story despite the fear and doubt that may accompany it, you channel that vulnerability into something powerful. This is best summed up by Steven Pressfield in The War of Art when he writes:
“So if you’re paralyzed with fear, it’s a good sign. It shows you what you have to do.”
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A Brief Parting Question
How comfortable are you with sharing your personal life with others? Do you think that a “private life is a happy life,” or do you feel that sharing your personal experiences is empowering?
Curious to know how you walk the line between the two, and how you internalize that balance for the stories you tell.
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As always, hit reply to share any thoughts, to respond to the parting question, or to simply say hello. I love hearing from you.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your week!
-Lawrence
P.S. Thanks to Rae, Leo, Sam, and David for adding your support on Patreon! We now have a patron hangout scheduled for this month, which I'm looking forward to. Become a part of the patron community to get more details, and to get access to exclusive reflections, AMAs, and more.
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