Dear Stephen,
I have been reading your autobiography, and I feel that it's time that I shared a piece of myself with you, since you appear to be so comfortable sharing so much of yourself with the world. Such a brave thing to do - to write a book that discusses the dark as well as the light, the good and the bad, and that doesn't shy away from telling stories that don't always cast you in the best light.
But as I read this book - and I must admit here that I have not reached the end yet - it seems to me that you are far more likely to dismiss your talents and belittle yourself than you are to offer yourself praise. You are so quick to praise friends and colleagues, to admit to the talent and wit of those around you, but you fail so often to see it in yourself, even when your labours so clearly bore fruit. I know how easy it is to dismiss success as fluke or luck, and to see your failures as the true indicators of your talents.
I am the daughter of a beautiful woman and a brilliant man. Genius and beauty came together in an electric, stormy romance that lasted long enough to produce me and leave them both heartbroken. I think that the people in their lives expected me to be worth the pain they endured. That somehow I would take the best of both of them, my mother's beauty, my father's brains, and do something magnificent with my life. I've felt that way for as long as I can remember, probably since their divorce when I was four, and the weight of those expectations has been crushing. I start something, wonder if it's going to live up to their expectations, fear that it won't, and give up before I even try.
I've had my fair share of successes. In fact I'd almost go so far as to say that I've accomplished almost everything I've ever truly set my mind to. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm always wary of embarking on a new endeavour. But here I am, starting a blog. Because I've always wanted to be a writer. And I have to start somewhere....
So we're going to do this together, you and I. Because it's always easier with a friend.
