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The Ghost of Willy Loman · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: One of the saddest plays ever performed in American theater is Death of a Salesman.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was written by Arthur Miller and first performed on Broadway in 1949.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Death of a Salesman tells a story of the last 24 hours in the life of Willie Lohman, a salesman who never quite achieved the success that he always dreamed of.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: He has a faithful yet disappointed wife and also two sons who are equally as lost as he is.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the play, you come to understand that Willie's main downfall is that he's unable to truly be himself.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: He spent his whole career trying to manufacture a winning personality and trying to become a person who everybody thinks is successful.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, the character of Willie Loman isn't just confined to the stage.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: The ghost of Willie Loman is alive and well in each one of us.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're all tempted to play by everybody else's rules and conform to other people's definitions of success.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: But we've got to have the courage to carve out our own identity and forge our own pathway in this life of being a writer.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, isn't that one of the defining qualities of a writer anyway?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to have a voice that's unique and we've got to have the courage to share it, and that doesn't really jive with the idea of trying to be somebody else, or always living for what everybody else expects of us.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: The actress Lily Tomlin once said, I always wanted to be somebody.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now I realize I should have been more specific.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, of course we all want to be somebody.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's human nature.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: But you're not just somebody or anybody.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's only one person who can be uniquely you, and that is you.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's challenge.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do you spend too much time trying to be somebody else?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, then what can you do today to try and be your own unique self?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.