How Do I love thee? How do I love Me?

February is frequently the time when people think about romance and love. But what about love for yourself? Too often most people think about how they can show care and kindness for someone else but don’t consider what they can do to uplift and encourage themselves. Working in an industry (professions like authors and editors) where most of your time is spent alone with your work—especially if you are a freelancer—sometimes the days can feel very lonely, and you don’t get a lot of acknowledgement for the substantial efforts that you are making. In cases like this (cases like mine), it is easy to feel like you aren’t making a big contribution to anything worthwhile, and at least for me, I often question my own skills and abilities when I’m left alone. Imposter syndrome is definitely a thing. I’ve been working in the editing field for a long time, and I know that I know what I am doing. I know other people who think I am good at what I do too. But I still find myself so often doubting my own competency. So I want to give a shoutout to all those authors and editors out there who might feel the same way. You’re doing a good job, and you do have the capability and expertise to do the thing you are doing.

I also want to add that a friend of mine came up with an amazing idea to help her in moments like this. She created a set of affirmation cards specifically for editors to encourage and inspire them. I bought a set of her cards for myself for Christmas so that I can pull them out at any time to give me a boost.

Here are just a few examples of the affirmations in this set for editors:

-              “I am a creative thinker who finds innovative ways to enhance content.”

-              “I am a problem solver who can find solutions to tricky editing challenges.”

-              “I am a collaborator who works well with writers and other team members.”

-              “I am human. We all make mistakes. I will not be too hard on myself.”

Authors should do the same thing. Remind yourself how great your skills are and that you do know what you’re doing. As long as you are writing, you are an author. If you feel like you need to improve your knowledge and skills, then I would totally support you in gaining more education and learning. But the very fact that you are doing the task of writing means that you are doing the work to get better and better. And we editors are here to help you when you need support, encouragement, and expertise.

The bottom line is—love yourself and say nice things to yourself. It’s something I’m working on, and I want everyone to recognize how great they are.

(If you are interested, to get a set of your own awesome editor affirmation cards, you can find them here: https://www.piquepublishing.com/shop