Kate, your writing beautifully captures the profound truth that the real tragedy is not an imperfect creation, but the refusal to accept it. Through the metaphor of Frankenstein, you show how turning away from our own creations...or the unfinished parts of ourselves, makes them feel monstrous. Your essay quietly reminds readers that without care, attention, and acceptance, nothing we create can ever truly become whole.
Especially the tenderness you bring to that first moment of recoil, when what we’ve made shows up unfinished and asking for more than admiration.
What struck me most is how clearly you name the real rupture: not creation itself, but abandonment. The refusal to stay once the fantasy collapses. That feels painfully familiar — in writing, in self-judgment, even in how we relate to our own history.
I appreciated how you resist easy binaries here.
The monster isn’t a mistake to erase or a victim to sentimentalise; it’s a consequence that keeps returning until it’s met.
And it's that framing that makes the turn toward drafts, shame loops, and avoided chapters feel honest rather than metaphorical.
There’s something quietly hopeful in the way you describe recognition — not as redemption or fixing, but as staying.
Turning toward what emerged imperfectly and refusing to keep walking away.
Thank you so much, Mark! I truly appreciate you taking the time to reflect so thoughtfully. Your comment is very insightful and something I will continue to reflect upon.
I’ve been thinking about my tendency to start and not finish projects. I dream big but as soon it’s difficult I tend to get discouraged with myself. This made me realize the solution is not to dream smaller but to have more compassion for the messy process. Thank you for this article!
Thank you for this, Sophia! That's super insightful. I will remember this for myself as well, as I'm also a visionary but sometimes get fed up with the messy middle :)
We start picturing things in our heads and when the outcomes comes it be like ~ noo.
thats the problem. we find things according to us which we actually think.
But the need is to find meanings in reality. Create your own new picture with the outcome. create with wholly new.
we didn’t want to find meaning. we already believe in imaginary pictures what we already created but that is illusion.
and if we will run towards that illusion , we will lost originality and the truthful meaning inside the outcomes.
you define very clearly about vision vs reality gaps.
this reminds me like as i’m too fan of fictional love stories. And everything in pictures, fictional story is beautiful and we start imagining that kind of person in our mind and start looking for same exact. There we lost originality.
We stop seeing real person who they actually are. In actual him, also have hidden meaning but we lost in illusions of fictions.
I love the way you framed the gap between vision and reality and how quickly love can turn conditional when something doesn’t arrive “finished”. I especially loved how you reframed the monster not as a failure, but as something abandoned too soon. There’s a lot of compassion in this, and it made me reflect on how many drafts (of writing and of self) I’ve walked away from instead of staying with. Beautiful, thoughtful piece.
Kate, your writing beautifully captures the profound truth that the real tragedy is not an imperfect creation, but the refusal to accept it. Through the metaphor of Frankenstein, you show how turning away from our own creations...or the unfinished parts of ourselves, makes them feel monstrous. Your essay quietly reminds readers that without care, attention, and acceptance, nothing we create can ever truly become whole.
Thank you so much, Dawnithic! Beautiful insights.
No problem, Kate, it's my pleasure.
This really stayed with me, Kate.
Especially the tenderness you bring to that first moment of recoil, when what we’ve made shows up unfinished and asking for more than admiration.
What struck me most is how clearly you name the real rupture: not creation itself, but abandonment. The refusal to stay once the fantasy collapses. That feels painfully familiar — in writing, in self-judgment, even in how we relate to our own history.
I appreciated how you resist easy binaries here.
The monster isn’t a mistake to erase or a victim to sentimentalise; it’s a consequence that keeps returning until it’s met.
And it's that framing that makes the turn toward drafts, shame loops, and avoided chapters feel honest rather than metaphorical.
There’s something quietly hopeful in the way you describe recognition — not as redemption or fixing, but as staying.
Turning toward what emerged imperfectly and refusing to keep walking away.
It’s a generous and deeply humane piece.
Thank you so much, Mark! I truly appreciate you taking the time to reflect so thoughtfully. Your comment is very insightful and something I will continue to reflect upon.
I’ve been thinking about my tendency to start and not finish projects. I dream big but as soon it’s difficult I tend to get discouraged with myself. This made me realize the solution is not to dream smaller but to have more compassion for the messy process. Thank you for this article!
Thank you for this, Sophia! That's super insightful. I will remember this for myself as well, as I'm also a visionary but sometimes get fed up with the messy middle :)
We start picturing things in our heads and when the outcomes comes it be like ~ noo.
thats the problem. we find things according to us which we actually think.
But the need is to find meanings in reality. Create your own new picture with the outcome. create with wholly new.
we didn’t want to find meaning. we already believe in imaginary pictures what we already created but that is illusion.
and if we will run towards that illusion , we will lost originality and the truthful meaning inside the outcomes.
you define very clearly about vision vs reality gaps.
this reminds me like as i’m too fan of fictional love stories. And everything in pictures, fictional story is beautiful and we start imagining that kind of person in our mind and start looking for same exact. There we lost originality.
We stop seeing real person who they actually are. In actual him, also have hidden meaning but we lost in illusions of fictions.
Thank you, this is very insightful! Yes, I can totally see how that relates to love. Especially how romance is depicted in Hollywood movies haha.
haha😂good right.
I love the way you framed the gap between vision and reality and how quickly love can turn conditional when something doesn’t arrive “finished”. I especially loved how you reframed the monster not as a failure, but as something abandoned too soon. There’s a lot of compassion in this, and it made me reflect on how many drafts (of writing and of self) I’ve walked away from instead of staying with. Beautiful, thoughtful piece.
Thank you so much, Andrea! Glad it resonated :)
Wow