I couldn't always call myself a writer

and realizing the life of a writer belongs to you

I couldn't always call myself a writer.

Calling myself a writer used to give me an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. And so I defaulted to saying "yeah, I write sometimes," or "I write for a hobby." It didn’t matter how long words had been landing on the page–the thought of labeling myself as an actual writer didn’t feel like it belonged to me.

I used to t…