The Obstacle Is the Way is a book title by Ryan Holiday. I have not read the book yet, but it's definitely on my TBR list. His title popped into my head after I received a professional rejection email from a YouTube influencer who didn't want to receive book mail from me. She stated that she had “too much already”. My first thought was, ‘If I were Oprah or the like, you would have plenty of room’. I totally get it at the same time. One hand washes the other. She has nothing to gain from me. I absolutely believe in autonomy, so I just thanked her respectfully for her consideration.

However, this turned into a growing annoyance of all these walls that are in place as an indie author by people who likely can't do what we do, in our case, write. Did you know LESS than 1% of the U.S. population are authors? Also, is this turning into a rant stemming from my feelings of disappointment? Yes. *Steps down from the soapbox*

A lot of my motivation usually comes from those nos in life, so I decided to start a bookish YouTube channel. Duh. Why didn't I think of that before? I'm an avid reader myself. I'm at a bookstore at least every other weekend. My channel will feature TBRs, book reviews, book hauls, and more. As it grows, my hope is to be in position to do for other authors and myself.

Here is the YouTube handle: https://www.youtube.com/@BellasBooked 

The obstacle really is the way!