It’s taken Drew Barrymore of all unexpected people, (much as I admire her) to help something gel in my mind.

How do people get to do amazing things? How come that person got to do that thing that I, oh so wistfully, wished for?

Why does it seem so freakishly simple for some people to have what they want?

Is there a secret ‘in-road’? As it happens there is. It’s called asking. All you do is A-S-K!

I’m a person who still finds it challenging to ask for what I want. So I was delighted to read a recent interview with darling Drew Barrymore wherein she said her success was partly due to having the courage to ask for things.

For example, she fancied being on the cover of Vogue magazine. Unlike most people who might sit and wait and wait and hope and hope that their phone might one day ring and their little side-hustle dream-come-true, Ms Barrymore wrote to Anna Wintour, editor at American Vogue and ASKED to be on the cover.

Yup, she asked.

I love that. It’s so empowering. So simple.

I hear another limiting belief of mine tinkle into tiny pieces.

“I just don’t think that things magically happen” said Ms Barrymore. “I think the writing [of a letter] is so proactive and a great way to take a stance in fighting for the things you want.

“Look: I have all these burning passions and desires, I’d really like to make this happen, and I know you don’t have ESP, so me sitting here scrunching up my eyes and hoping, hoping, hoping probably isn’t going to do much.”

I don’t think it has ever occurred to me that the amazing things that happen to people might have happened because they asked. Asked! Such a tiny word.

And yet I am sure lots of people – I’m thinking various forms of the casting-couch scenario, for instance – have skipped this first, simple step.

So thanks Ms Barrymore. I am now going to not only write things down for myself but write things TO people. Put a stamp on it and not just thereby action it but tangibly ship it – (as Seth Godin says, “One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen“).

Image, ‘Growing Human Heart’ from a selection of prints on paper and fabric available to buy from The Utilitarian Franchise, San Francisco. Thanks for making the world more beautiful.