Humility

“All a writer has to do to get a woman is to say he's a writer. It's an aphrodisiac.” -  Saul Bellow

Fairly frequently, I will find myself in a social situation where a friend will introduce me to someone, and say, "Lucinda is a writer." I downplay it. Somewhere along the way, I learned to feign modesty, as if the mere fact that I admit I am a writer will make me look boastful.

There are three problems with this. First, I am a writer. It's no big deal. I am also a nurse. If someone said, "Lucinda is a nurse," I wouldn't do the sideways glance and claim I am not really. Can you imagine if you were a hospitalized patient and your nurse said she wasn't really a nurse? What the heck is she doing in your room with a syringe filled with pain medicine if she isn't a nurse? And what the heck is it that I am doing with pen and paper and computer and my butt firmly grounded in my chair for hours every day if it isn't writing? And if I am writing, then ergo, I am a writer.

Second, there is some sort of misplaced prestige in being a writer. It doesn't make sense. I think we should worship teachers, nurses, daycare workers, garbage collectors, and fire fighters, but writers? It doesn't make any sense.

Third, I have a problem with false modesty. The bottom line is, even though I don't think that writing is a noble profession, I certainly don't have to deny I am a writer. Golda Meir said, "Don't be so humble; you're not that great."  She's right.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter what I do, so much as who I am.