Hey… so.
My parents never liked my writing, or the fact that I write. in their eyes, if it wasn’t making me money or helping me get better grades, it wasn’t worth spending time on. And of course on top of that they tore it apart with critiques so harsh I never wanted to write ever again.
Now, when I sit down to write this overwhelming guilt and shame suffocates me because there’s a million other things I ‘should’ be doing, like the dishes or schoolwork. And even though I don’t talk to them anymore, I can still hear their voices in the back of my brain telling me i’m worthless for doing things for no other reason besides that they bring me joy.
i’ve been trying ot figure out how to break the cycle, but unfortunately nothing really helps 
I kinds always end up at the same point: seeking my parents approval. it’s hard because i’m grieving people who are still alive… but I guess it doesn’t really matter, anyway.
I just wish they understood.
Anyone else?
Have you found people who support and approve of your writing to replace those voices? A support group can really help. Life isn’t about making money and the true measure of success is happiness. If writing makes you happy, you are successful. Don’t allow your parents to ruin that success by trying to redifine what success means. That’s not up to them. It’s up to you.
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Yeah my parents are and always have been loving and supportive but they were also realists so sometimes that support looked like telling fourteen-year-old me that I absolutely could not do writing as a career because there’s no money in that. Which is totally accurate, but dude, harsh (for a teenager, I mean).
Plus my writing (like, the content) bothered my mom a lot. Honestly baffling considering what she read and watched and what she let me read and watch. And she was super open about that, which was not a soul-crushing as what your parents did but it had its impact.
Anyways I say all that to say my solution back then was to go ‘fuck you i do what i want’ and ride the spite and rebellion train until I did what I wanted to do.
And also lock my mom out of that corner of my life. Love you, mom, but fuck off.
A more measured solution that I use now is to just make it one of the things I ‘should’ be doing. I need to write as much as I need to do dishes or schoolwork. In your case I would say taking care of yourself mentally by doing things because they bring you joy is equally as important as taking care of your environment and education. You can and should include all aspects of your health in your plans and writing contributes to some of those aspects.
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@Xelyn_Craft @copyedit
I saw this, I swear it’s 1 am over here and I’m half an existential crisis away from a panic attack so I’ll respond later 