Dignity is a hella powerful word
And we don't use it enough, especially for ourselves and our art
In yesterday’s post, we dug into a way to approach self-discipline with care and clarity of purpose. There’s more I want to tackle today.
A once-mentor of mine used to say that discipline (self-discipline, doling out consequences to others, etc) must contribute to personal dignity to be effective in the longterm; that generally being a shit about it will eventually backfire. Think about disciplining a child; thoughtful discipline in which the kid learns a lesson probably sets the kid up to be a functioning adult; being a vengeful shit-parent is probably way more likely to set the kid up to be an insufferable asshole in adulthood.
I am far from above being petty as hell to make a point or underscore a boundary when needed, but said mentor wasn’t wrong to play the long game like that.
Healthy self-discipline has to contribute to personal dignity or it’ll usually backfire, just like healthy boundaries contribute to personal dignity instead of crappy cycles of far-from-dignified behavior. Ideally, the right kind of self-discipline cultivates a sense of autonomy and confidence, and does do without compromising the vision of the thing. So, although we just dug into the topic yesterday, take another look at your relationship to your writing practice, your creative life and actions overall, and ask yourself if the steps in your process ultimately punishes you or strengthens and liberates you? And, if you aren’t happy with what you unearth, write about what you might like to shift. Write deeply, fam. There’s no right or wrong here; just an opportunity to interrogate ourselves a little, in the hope we are better for having done so.