Omg, I made a dumb mistake. lol
Some oddly helpful thoughts on finding your people...
Happy Friday,
I made a mistake. This is not new. I make lots of mistakes. Who doesn’t? I mean, the entire human race could be divided into two groups. The people who make mistakes. And liars.
No one noticed. Or if they did, they didn’t care…
I was writing about what it was like to be a woman 100 years ago. So I said for hundreds of years, there were only two ways a woman could get a divorce. Under the grounds of bigamy, or abuse.
That’s what I meant to say, anyway.
What I actually said was bigotry or abuse.
lol. If that was true, way more people would have been divorced.
There were a lot of bigots 100 years ago.
Know what the funny part is? No one even noticed. lol
Maybe they saw the typo, but knew what I meant?
One mistake does not a garbage heap make.
The Theory of “A Little Bit Famous”
Years ago, I read a theory about finding your people. It said if you want to do well with whatever it is you do, and find your people, just strive to be “a little bit” famous.
Not world famous. Not celebrity famous.
Just “a little bit” famous.
Like, if you don’t geek out on data, you have no idea who Annie Cushing is. But if you do, you probably know of Annielytics.
If you’re not a wordpress geek, you may never have heard of Matt Mullenweg.
I could spend hours giving you examples. Lisa Genova and Alzheimer’s disease. Katy Bowman and tiny body movements that keep us healthier.
Just a little bit famous.
And you do that by showing up. Time after time. You don’t even have to be perfect. You just have to show up.
Know what holds most people back?
Fear. They’re afraid they’ll make mistakes. Afraid they can’t sustain the effort. Afraid they’ll be laughed at or criticized. Afraid they’re not ready. It’s not ready.
Fear has ten thousand names, at least.
But you know what? All that stuff we are so afraid of… no one cares.
Or more to the point, your people don’t care.
Know how I found out about the typo? A loyal reader sent me a private message. We had a good laugh about it. He’ll keep reading my work. Even if I make mistakes.
That’s what “your” people do.
The ones who arrive with harsh words and criticism?
They were never your people in the first place.
Manners are free. Your people bring them.
You’re free to ignore the rest.
All they want is for you to show up.
P.S. Curiosity — if you were “a little bit” famous, what would it be for?
Not only is the universe stranger than we think,
it is stranger than we can think.
~Werner Heisenberg
More reading…
If you enjoyed this, please click the heart to say thanks. If you’re reading in email, click the title to check out the comment section. There’s usually some great conversations happening in there. Have a great weekend…
xo,
Linda
Your question about “a little bit famous” made this song go through my head. Over and over. Which is weird because I am not an Elton John fan. I checked out the lyrics and said...”I can’t send that in a substack comment, it’s too mushy”.
Then again if one looks at the words in general rather than specifically, maybe they are just a tribute to a good person, an excellent writer, a fellow human always trying to reach out to others with interesting and helpful bits of info.
Ok then. Here is a link to the lyrics in Elton’s song. https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eltonjohn/yoursong.html
Happy weekend, everyone
Its really incredible when you find your people, good thinking to be open to receiving and meeting them....from so many different avenues..