The more I’ve promoted Write Right’s Emergency Hope Kit, the more Dean Young’s words come to mind. He’s speaking of writing, but he says it’s the “horrible work necessary to do to get to writing well, that is so difficult one may just not be willing to do it.”
Promotion feels like horrible, difficult work. It’s exhausting. I have moments when I consider giving up. The difference between how much support I’ve raised and how much I need to raise seems impossible to overcome.
Hope and trust disappear, an irony I’m only too well aware of. I’m promoting an Emergency Hope Kit while, at the same time, my own hope and confidence is flagging.
The lack isn’t surprising. Self-promotion, even at the behest of a good cause, is a challenge. I try to separate the work from myself and to remember that the thing I’ve created is meant to serve others, but it’s small comfort. It still feels too self-promotional, too…proud. I find myself wanting to crawl into some corner somewhere and avoid detection.
The time and energy required also is a challenge. It takes effort to schedule social updates, email newsletters, and blog posts. It requires a sort of humility to understand that my current efforts aren’t enough and work to increase them. It takes persistence, dedication, and, yes, hope to see a campaign through to its end. It requires being vocal even when I’d much rather be quiet.
I don’t have a choice. I have to see this thing through to the end and continue to believe in it despite the doubts and recriminations. I have to shore up my confidence and remember that my adequacy doesn’t come from myself. It comes from Another. He makes me strong. He gave me writing and artistic talent and a heart for artists for a reason. He will be with me regardless of the kit’s success. All He asks is that I trust Him.
Learn about the Emergency Hope Kit here.