Push the Button

Hi!

Thanks for subscribing to this newly minted newsletter. I’m so excited (and to be honest, quite freaked out!!) to be sharing things I’ve learned and discovered as I pursue my writing journey.

When I decided to become a writer, I realized there were so many things to learn and so many things I didn’t know about writing.

Fortunately, despite all the appalling stuff online, I’ve discovered an endless wealth of information, sources of inspiration, tools, resources, and a broad community of generous and kind writers and creatives who’ve helped me on my journey.

This newsletter is my way of paying it forward.

Let me know what you like, what’s useful for you, and what things you’ve learned! Please share. Writing/Creating/Making Art can be so freaking hard and scary; sharing the things we’ve learned along the way makes it a tad easier. ❤️

Speaking of hard and scary…

Sure, writing (or any creative work) isn’t easy. But I’ve learned, that publishing and sharing are actually the most terrifying parts for me. If you knew how many creative projects, blogs, and websites I have started, but then quickly let fall by the wayside, out of PURE FEAR, you’d laugh. You’re probably thinking, how pathetic! Or maybe–and I suspect this may be the case for at least a few of you–you’re sort of laughing because you’re like, yup, that sounds very familiar!

So here’s the thing I’ve learned:

You’ve got to push the button. Hit Send/Submit/Publish.

It’s ok to create for yourself. In fact, I’m a big proponent of creating for yourself first (more on this later). But ultimately, we create because our writing, our art, is a manifestation of something bigger than us.

You know what I’m talking about. It pokes, it tickles, it scratches, and then it nags until it is screaming at you to let it out. We’re just a vessel for the work, a channel it passes through to reach the world.

Our job is to set it free so it can live, inspire, multiply, and morph into ten million other things.

This is why we must hit send, why we must share our work.

I’ve been actively reading, writing, and researching for this newsletter for a few weeks now. I have a good chunk of draft posts ready to be tweaked and published. I even told myself I could get that handcrafted pencil holder I’ve been eyeing for months, as a reward, when the newsletter is out.

And yet, time goes by. The week is almost over. How many more do I need before I push the button? I pace and I fret in my apartment…about what exactly? No one knows about this project (yet) except my husband and a close friend. And then, this song comes into my head…

Don't hold back, 'cause you woke up in the morning
With initiative to move, so why make it harder?
Don't hold back, if you think about it
So many people do, be cool man, look smarter
Don't hold back, and you shouldn't even care
'Bout the losers in the air and their crooked stares
Don't hold back, 'cause there's a party over here
So you might as well be here where the people care

- Galvanize, Chemical Brothers

I remember when The Chemical Brothers dropped their fifth album, Push the Button, in 2005. I loved how Galvanize incorporated a Morrocan Chaabi string sample from Najat Aatabou's Hadi Kedba Bayna (Just Tell Me the Truth). It seemed to embody things I related to (multiculturalism, blending of genres) and the things I wished to be (fierce, badass, and a kick-ass dancer). Growing up playing the violin–and like many, forced to adhere to strict classical music training–it blew my mind to hear strings mixed with electronic music. Add Q-Tip’s rhythmic vocals and a fiery cadence to the mix; it’s hard not to feel empowered when you listen to the track.

World, the time has come to (Push the button)
World, the time has come to (Push the button)
World, the time has come to (Push the button)
World, my finger is on the button
My finger is on the button
My finger is on the button (Push the button)
The time has come to
Galvanize

- Galvanize, Chemical Brothers

I play the track.

Once, twice, three times. Over and over again.

Here it goes,

World.

I’m going to push the button.

I hope you do too.

-G.G. Law