I believe that if you tell the world that you want something. Like really want something that the world will respond. That if you set a goal for yourself. That if you tell other people about your goal. That if you prepare yourself in preparation. That if you do all of this, the world will respond.

But then I thought, is that a prayer? In a religious sense?

I abhor the idea of religion. Not because of religion itself. But the way that it’s misconstrued. That it’s people blindly following a faith, especially around “appropriate” behavior. Religion at its worse is about making people fear about doing the wrong thing and shaming others who seem to be doing the wrong thing. Why is it about fear and not love?

And so, I thought about my belief.

Because the fact is: a prayer is about sending a message to an entity. At least for the religions with spiritual beings. It’s waiting for that entity to respond through actions and messages. It’s entrusting that some being will grant the wish. Like magic.

That’s not what I believe. I believe that if I prepare myself, if I ask for help, the world opens opportunity. Because somehow the threads that I throw out—the call for action—want to be connected and so they connect. Entities don’t exist like that. The connection is within ourselves.

For the past few years, I wanted to be a writer. So I worked myself up to be one. Doing everything that I could: classes, workshops, writing groups, reading writing books, applying for fellowships, networking with other writers. This year, I wanted to rework my novel. I talked to everyone about my ideas. I wrote a few down. Then a writing coach popped up. And so then I found the pathway.