The Dangers of Just Starting Without Healing in Digital Marketing and Creative Pursuits

I’ve started a lot of things.

More than I can count.

And something I learned the hard way is that the advice to "just start" doesn't help.

writing from clarity

Sometimes it makes things worse.

“Just start” works if your nervous system is stable.

You can't create if you don't feel safe.

If you have lost faith or self-trust.

Looking back over a life of just starting, I found repeatedly that I'd crash under the weight of my own desires because what I didn't know was I was running on fear, pressure and the need to prove something.

It's why just starting never brought clarity.

And often ended in chaos. I had no idea how to get to the root.

Starting created motion.

And I'd get so far.

But that motion in my creative pursuits ultimately didn't progress.

It ended every time with chaos and noise.

My Creative Background

Professionally, I was trained to write without personal thoughts or opinions.

I'd studied broadcast journalism in college and I wholehearted believed in and loved journalism.

I believed the job was to tell the truth, ask real questions, and hold d powerful people accountable.

What I didn’t understand was that I wasn’t just working in TV.

I was in the business of broadcast television.

And television isn’t just about truth.

It’s a business.

I didn't know the rules.

I didn’t understand the game, or how to play it.

I thought hard work would be enough.

It wasn’t.

It wore me down.

My nervous system paid for the price before my mind caught up.

The ending was tragic.

Creative Pursuits and Trying Again

After that, I did what I always do.

I tried to start again.

New projects.

New ideas.

New directions.

Inside, I knew I was still failing, but I was confused and didn't understand why.

After a lot of false starts, brutal experiences, I started to notice patterns.

When All Else Fails, What's Your Origin Story?

For decades, I thought the problem was me.

I didn’t consider the systems.

Family, community, religious, school.

I only began to think about root causes when I'd done everything I knew I was supposed to do.

This was when I started to consider the environments that shaped me, and the beliefs I'd carried that weren't actually mine.

Eventually, I realized, starting wasn’t neutral.

It was self-sabotage.

So, I changed.

I stopped starting.

And realize what my starting points were.

They came from fear, hypervigilance, and a need to prove my worth.

Just Starting doesn’t fix that.

It turns the volume up.

The Bigger Picture

Failure isn't always personal.

Sometimes it's generational.

Family systems.

Work cultures.

Relationships that reward urgency, compliance, or being useful at all costs.

Those beliefs followed me straight into my career.

That’s behind why I'm writing the way that I am now.

Forward Thinking

I’m learning how to orient myself again through writing. And I'm curious about marketing and creating without having to put my whole personality out there

So, here's my faceless digital marketing blog.

A place to practice writing.

Learn the mechanics.

Stay out of the spotlight, slow down and pay attention to what holds my curiosity.

For now, this is an open notebook.

A place to think clearly, write cleanly, and build something carefully enough that it doesn’t fall apart later.