I had the privilege of seeing Isabel Wilkerson (the first woman of African-American heritage to win the Pulitzer prize in journalism and Pulitzer prize winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns) speak at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, NY this past week.
At the end of her rousing speech, there was a live Q & A.
One answer she gave struck me in particular…
She was asked (paraphrased), “What sacrifices did you have to make in order to get this incredible body of work completed?”
Now, before I tell you her answer—some context:
- It took her 15 years to write The Warmth of Other Suns (she joked that if her book was a child it would be in high school and dating by the time she finished).
- She interviewed 1200+ people herself for the book (not a typo).
- She somehow managed to boil down those 1200+ interviews into four stories that were featured in the narrative fiction that is The Warmth of Other Suns.
Okay, now that we’re on the same page, this was her answer (paraphrased):
“I feel like I didn’t make any sacrifices. I’m doing the work I was called here to do and that makes all of the time invested worth it.“
I suppose when you look at the creation of your work as analogous to birthing and raising a child (that makes it all the way to high school)—you really don’t see what you’re doing as a sacrifice. Your work takes on a life of its own that you bear the responsibility for raising.
…And maybe that’s an analogy we can start using in reference to our work as well.