That’s a hard won thing for me to say, but I will say it. I define myself. That’s one of the reasons that I like being an indie. I don’t have to be molded into someone else’s idea of who I should be.
I am me.
I define me.
You define you.
I like the freedom of deciding how I'm going to publish my work, what my time table is going to be, how I'm going to introduce it into the world, and if I'm going to mush together tropes that don't fit a booksellers mold. I define me.
One of the things that I like about indie creativity is that it doesn't fit into molds. They defy molds. It makes more more interesting expressions. I like indie video games. I like indie movies. I like indie fiction. I like indie comic books. I like food trucks. I like pop ups. I like all sorts of things where there is experimentation and risk taking. I don't always like the execution, but I like the project was attempted. It is new. It is different. It is an authentic expression of the moment, the person, the human experience.
I haven't always allowed myself to be authentic to my own voice. There were times when I did try to fit in, when I lost myself, when I allowed others to define who I was. But I have reclaimed my voice. For better. For worse. I define me.
One of the greatest gifts I have gotten from this is that I feel more connected with those who have stayed and those who I have found. Being seen when you are being truly yourself is one of the greatest feelings there is.