A few months ago, I discovered that Mary Engelbreit offers postcards of all the designs I loved in my teenage years, and this delighted me to no end. In college, my roommates and I used our meager decorating budget to frame cards that hung over the couch. Yes, they got priority placement over the N*Sync poster, which was down the hall.

I don’t remember which ones we had; they were likely some of her 90’s greatest hits, like these:

Coming back to her work 25 years later, I love her even more, for recent designs like these:

You’ll notice that she tucks her initials into all her work. This rediscovery, at the height of global Taylor Swift fever, got me thinking: You really can’t spell awesome without ME.

These two women have some commonalities. Both had their future careers selected before they were 10. Their artistry has garnered widespread, loyal followings. Those followings aren’t just about skill and style; the fans come because of what they stand for: kindness, empathy, fun, and badassery.

They encourage us to show up for ourselves. To be who we want to be and celebrate whatever that is.

Maybe you don’t like tooting your own horn. Many of us were raised to not brag or boast, and sometimes we forget that we deserve to be proud of ourselves and our awesomeness.

Others have lived in situations where praise or “excessive” self-confidence made them targets for criticism - of course, by those with self-confidence issues of their own. Taylor tells us to shake it off. Mary reminds us:

You may come to self-ascribed awesomeness easily. Hats off to you! If not, you can cultivate it - not just to feel good, but to actually impact outcomes.

Dr. Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, shares that her multiple decades of “research has shown that the view you adopt of yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.” Dweck coined the term growth mindset, which underscores an attitude of curiosity and learning as the path to excellence.

In other words: we’re all still learning here.

Sugar and a mug my mom bought for me before I even starting drinking coffee.

The celebrations need not wait for some final destination or goal, because - surprise! - when you have a growth mindset, you keep getting better and better. There’s no end, no apex, no top score.

So you can just get the ever-increasing awesomeness out there now.

Killed it on a recent project? Awesome.

Got Wordle in three guesses? Awesome.

Ate a vegetable? Awesome.

Journal them first, if you need a warm-up for committing your radness to paper. Then practice sharing these things in your writing. Your people want to celebrate you. What feels like humility to you might feel like to not being invited to the party to them.

And remember, always: You’re the only one of you. Baby, that’s the fun of you.

You Can't Spell Awesome Without ME