Sandra Hults
Author
I see you..
Inspired by: I See You – Idina Menzel
Current Reading: The Borgias – G. J. Meyer
Brought to you by: The Figment Writers
So this week’s “a piece of cake”. Right. The image above is not meant to taunt those watching what they eat. Cake is good once in a while, after all.
So I’m going to follow this lovely image with a quote that makes me think.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
— Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings)
Most people cut this quote off at the first sentence but I think the entirety is more powerful that just that first sentence. Particularly in light of the number of people that want progress without the struggle. I think anyone that has not had to struggle in life—be those struggles internal or otherwise—has not really lived. They tend to be going through the motions or hiding. I hid for a longer time than I care to think about.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand.” How do you interpret this? I think that he means you have to fight to move forward. If you want something, you have to go fight for it and that if you are willing to brave the thunder and lightning, brave that awful roar and are willing to disturb the natural order, you will succeed. You have to go after what you want without hesitation. In simpler terms and in terms a dear friend said to me just this afternoon. “Fuck you, I’m doing this.” In that same breath she told me that she was proud of me for putting me out there and going after my passion. I had to boot my hesitation in the ass but I got there. Her words really touched me because if she sees it, my daughter sees it as an example.
If I had not, I never would have been happy or satisfied. That restlessness that sat within me for years would never have settled. So there is bravery in that story, I think. I participated in a project sponsored by my friends at Holl & Lane on Instagram. They asked that you post a picture and tell part of your story. The project got me thinking. By nature, I tell stories, I use them to teach and I have a lot of different tacks to take with this project.
This time I decided to share my experience, or evolution into the author I am now. In a word? Terrifying. When I was a girl I wrote little stories, did the high school newspaper gig and then, for a while I put it away. No particular reason, just life got in the way. I did not pick it up again seriously writing until maybe 2001-2002. I did not recognize that creating was a need until after my divorce in 2007. For me, to not create, to not write is a death of the spirit. I do not say this to exaggerate. If I do not have my writing time, or even just an hour or so to visit with ye olde blog, I get exceptionally cranky and unfocused. I -have- to write. My husband will attest to this, I get hard to live with if I do not.
It was 2012 when I decided to go for it. Imagine that, ten years of writing before I made a decision. I just did not consider all it could be. I never took the time to dream of something bigger than just storytelling. In a way, I still don’t. In the marketing crazy, the layouts, the cover design, I do not think about what it could grow to be. I just enjoy the ride. That too is important. Part of me wishes I had seen it sooner and another, perhaps wiser part, realizes that things happened exactly as it should.
At any rate, if you’re interested in sharing your story, go to Instagram, post a picture and share your story—what makes you you? Tag #mystoryispowerful and @hollandlane in your story. Ladies, we have a lot of beautiful things to say if we’re brave enough to put ourselves out there and be honest. If you’re interested in the magazine, go here.
In book related news, I got my first stock order of my books yesterday. Check out these beauties: 
This was the first time I was able to hold book 2 in my hands since the cover redesign. Can I just say that this never stops being awesome? Three weeks until Light’s Guide release! How exciting is that?
In closing, enjoy your cake. Especially if you’ve worked your ass to get it.
As always, stay out of trouble, guys. Take care.
Sandra Hults 
I had never read that quote from Frederick Douglass before, but I absolutely love it. And I also love that you are chasing your dreams. You rock!
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