Dear Writer Director Letter #104
The only people who really succeed are those with a great need.
Photo by Iris Azalea.
Dear Writer Director,
The only people who really succeed are those with a great need.
Often, in the last few years, I have heard so-called business experts claim that you have to have your basic needs taken care of in order to start operating from a “level headed” place. I have found that it’s actually the opposite. When the stakes are high but you are determined, that’s when the most innovative and resilient ideas and breakthroughs find you.
Originally, I thought I could just build my podcast on the side indefinitely while I taught with the majority of my time. I thought eventually it would just pop off, but traction didn’t really start happening until I absolutely needed it to happen, or I would completely run out of money or be homeless. When there’s no other option than to succeed, you find a way to do so.
I learned this concept in early December, and I never looked back. The person who told me this was absolutely right. The only people who really succeed are those with a great need. This is the stuff self-made people are forged out of. When you have to figure it out, you have to let go of knowing anything. When you are forced to walk down the street or peruse the Internet in search of your next opportunity, your eyes and ears become open on another level. You’re no longer cushioned in safety. It becomes useless to feel anxiety. It’s just an obstacle, so eventually, over time, you just don’t.
The greatest power you have is what you say yes and no to. Always say no to what feels wrong or feels like a step backwards. Always say yes to a scary challenge that’ll force you to grow. I’ve seen brilliant people naval gaze in search of perfection before they do anything. They do this because they have no great immediate need, and they aren’t willing to sacrifice their old life for their new one. Those people remain in perpetual limbo for years, often decades. They can’t comprehend that they are the reason they’re in a holding pattern. It’s the exact breeding ground for a victim complex.
Let’s be honest here. There’s a lot of female writers in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s with no financial pressure on them because their husband or partner pays most of the bills. That situation doesn’t make them any less good at writing, but it does put them in a position in which there is no real risk with what they’re doing. I used to resent that I was single and had to do all of this on my own. Now I understand that having it more difficult than most is actually my secret weapon.
The only people who really succeed are those with a great need. I have experienced absolutely mind-boggling obstacles since October of 2024, and I have risen to the occasion and overcome all of them like it was nothing. I used to have a quote hanging in my bathroom from Thomas Edison, “If we knew what we were capable of, we’d truly astound ourselves.” Now I get why I was drawn to that quote. It was showing me my future. Whenever somebody warns me “something is going to be hard”, I am secretly laughing at them inside. They have no fucking clue what hard means. People often assume that because I am a woman, and I am kind that I am soft and woundable like them. There are scars upon scars, and the only thing that would really freak me out is if a hurricane showed up tomorrow, but then again, I’ve already been offered a hideaway with some locals for when it’s in season, so that’s really a non-issue. Bottom line: our society has prepared us to be defeat-able by the elements. We have to take it upon ourselves to become warriors. Leaving where you are and going somewhere, anywhere you want to go, requires sacrifice and venturing into the unknown. If we seriously want change, we’re going to each have to give something up. Sitting by my window in The French Quarter overlooking the commerce happening below reveals to me what bullshit I need to leave in the past. For the foreseeable future, I will treat myself to $14 sushi. I will go on long free walks. I will do photoshoots multiple times a week in free locations. I will write every night instead of spending even $1 some place. I will keep my eyes and ears open, and I will call phone numbers I’ve been given by allies for new interviews without hesitation. I will be kind to absolutely everybody and never instantly write off a soul. It’s there in those activities that the path to my future lies, and I’m leaning into the reality of the journey. I’m not shying away from the reality of my position at the bottom of society.
Dear Writer Director, don’t put yourself in a less scary position in order to begin. Just begin. Risk it all. You’ve got nothing to lose. Make decisions, see what happens, learn from them. Rinse and repeat. Don’t worry about making “the right” decision. The wrong one will actually take you somewhere. Strategizing in your head without throwing yourself in is theory not practice. The theory stage shouldn’t take five years or ten or fifteen or twenty. It should take maybe one, maybe four. Leaving it will cost you all of your fair-weather friends. Be willing to be lonely. It’s so much better to admit where you are and dream of where you are going than to remain terrified to see yourself in the mirror.
Love,
Olivia