I thoroughly enjoyed your article, Ryan. It made me smile because I can very much relate to it. With only two exceptions, none of my friends read my writing. Over the years when friends have read my writing they soon thereafter drift out of my life and are no longer friends. In the early years it would upset me when friends would not read my writing but after realizing that my writing was a friendship killer I was not only no longer upset but I consciously tried to keep my writing a secret from my friends.

For twenty years I was married to a woman who vehemently refused to read my writing. Yes, she read a little bit in the early years of the marriage. I asked her to because I was needing/wanting her support. But she finally told me that, while she loved me, she did not know who that person was who was doing the writing. To her that was an entirely different person. She did not know who that person was, she did not understand him and she did not care to be married to him. So for the rest of the marriage my writing was something that we never, ever talked about.

I did not realize how lucky I was. That spouse was a great teacher for me. Every writer in their formative years is desperate for support. Her refusal to offer me any support was like throwing a baby in the water to force it to learn how to swim. I learned how to write on my own without any visible means of support.

I learned to write unconditionally without concern for what anyone thinks. Support from friends and family is a crutch. We writers must learn to toss aside the crutches and walk on our own. Support from friends and family is like training wheels on a bike. Sure, it might be useful at the very start but one never truly rides a bike until one takes the darn training wheels off.

Nowadays, I interact with scores of people on a daily basis — some days hundreds — and out of all those people only three of them know that I’ve written and published numerous books and that I write continuously on the internet (and only one of those 3 people have ever read my writings). I truly like that and intend to keep it that way.

I have found that the best support comes from the universe so I do not seek it out from friends or family or other humans. It has been one of the toughest forms of surrender I have ever undertaken. I occasionally slip back into the neediness of wanting support but that happens less and less frequently these days. I am much happier now.

— White Feather (Writer on Foot Getting Bread)