I want my children to leave home. My book children, at least. I have been working on getting some of them out of my house for years. They are the manuscripts that I have nurtured and revised from upstarts to full-fledged stories.

It’s not easy getting your “children” to leave home. I know a writer who has written an entire novel and has kept it under her bed for years. I have no doubt that it is an excellent novel because she is a thoughtful, excellent writer. But something stops her from taking the risk of putting it out into the world.

My theory, and I could be wrong, is that she is afraid to get her work out there because she then runs the risk of it being criticized. At least while it is under her bed it is safe.

I understand this fear, but I don’t believe it is useful. As artists, and parents, we must put our creations out into the world or we run the risk of crippling them. It is our responsibility, after we have done our job to the best of our ability, to release these creations so that they have an opportunity to live out their destiny. We must release them because we never know who we might help or who might be encouraged and inspired by our words.

So I say to my own book children still at home: It is time to take flight. If you fail, you fail. If you succeed, you succeed. Either way, I have fulfilled my part of the promise.

Is there anything that you haven’t sent out into the world that you really need to? A book? An article? A painting? A poem you want to submit? If so, I encourage you to let your talents take flight. Give them the chance to spread their wings and fly, bearing their gifts to those who need them.

P.S. If you have a passion, like I do, to document and pass down your family’s stories, check out www.YourFamilyTimeCapsule.com