Author and teacher Parker Palmer wrote a profound little book called Let Your Life Speak. In the book, he writes, “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.” 

What does it mean to listen to your life? It means paying attention to the signposts telling you where you should go. 

It is amazing how often we don’t see the signs right in front of us. These signs can take different shapes, such as what your gut is telling you, what you’re passionate about, and where you are having success in your life. All those signs are indicators of what you should be doing with your life. 

One of the most important signs comes from other people. Are there people in your life who have encouraged you in your writing? Perhaps teachers, parents, or friends? If so, this is a sure sign that you need to lean into writing. 

If you haven’t had people encourage your writing, no worries. It may be that you simply have not written and shared it with enough other people for them to validate and affirm you in your gift. 

Maybe you’ve had the unfortunate luck of having people be critical and dismiss your writing. If so, understand this: anybody who criticizes you without a loving spirit is doing so with the wrong kind of attitude. They are not being helpful. Most of the time, other people’s criticism is driven by jealousy and a lack of affirmation in their own life. As the saying goes, hurting people hurt people. 

So watch out for signposts, especially from the people around you. Listen to the ones who encourage and affirm your writing. They are pointing you in the right direction.