COURAGE--7 little letters to help you follow your fascinations...

Secret #3 of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women is "Following Your Fascinations." And I am honored to have had the extreme pleasure of being interviewed by the fabulous Jamie. I invite you to listen to it here. I love seeing her project grow in such a dynamic way. She followed her fascinations and--wowzers!-- I am so glad that she did!

This chapter, for me, has special meaning. Not only because it was the focus of my interview, but because it deeply reflects so many of the issues floating around in my creative life. As I listened to the interview I was amazed by how many messages there were for me in my words...messages that I needed to hear, things I need to remember. Especially the part about following my energy and creating from a place that feels true to my heart.

My word for the day is COURAGE--and I am choosing that word in celebration of following our fascinations. Why? Because sometimes it takes a helluva lot of courage to follow the tug of our heart. It takes courage to take a chance, to change directions, or to try something new. It definitely takes courage to chart your own course. Unfortunately (or fortunately!), the creative life never comes with a set of instructions. Of course, if it did, it wouldn't be creative!

From this week's chapter, there is one quote in particular that grabbed my attention and doesn't seem to want to let go:

"And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more."
~Erica Jong, Writer.

There's one question that I love the most in this chapter and that is: Are you ready to follow your fascinations?

Maybe I like this question because, for me, it's an easy one. My answer, without a doubt, is yes-yes-yes! Ok...the question might provide an easy answer--but, let's face it, following our fascinations takes more bravery than anything else I know of.

These days I find my fascinations leading me down a path inspired by my love for dogs. Following my fascinations feels like following a string. It's there--always there--but it can break, it can go slack, it can get tangled...lots of things can happen to that string. But when I'm really, really onto something...I feel that string stretch out in front of me. It's taut and energized. It's like finding a string in the dirt and, when you pull on the end, up comes more and more and more...and you just keep following it and the further you follow it, the more mesmerizing it becomes!

Right now my string is leading me to India where I would like to immerse myself in the world of stray dogs. When I think about this project, my heart weighs more, I get the sensation of being filled from the inside out. It is similar to the sensation one feels the moment right before laughter or tears. When I feel that sensation, that's when I know I'm on to something. That's when I notice the string.

Secret #3, "Following Your Fascinations," dives deep into the nitty-gritty of what it means to move from your center and make decisions based on your truth. When our fascinations gets real, it gets scary. The more it matters, the scarier it becomes. The more it matters, the more important it is. The more important it is, the more it's worth the risk. This chapter is about perserverance. It's about risk taking. It's about screwing up and having faith. Most importantly, it's about having the courage to manifest things that do not yet exist.

My other favorite quote from this chapter is this one:

"If you can put fear aside, you're unstoppable."
~Janet Hagberg Writer and Activist.

Just think of how much we're each capable of if we put fear aside. Just think where we would be if we did this over and over and over again!

We really are capable of manifesting absolutely everything we dream of--but first we need to take a step toward it. And then another step...and another and another.

Here's to being open to the journey.
Here's to celebrating the process.
Heres's to making good decisions,
but forgiving yourself when you make ones that don't work out.
Here's to living from the inside out.
Here's to courage and the evolution that accompanies it.
As the card on my desk says, "don't be 'fraid of nuthin."

May your fascinations lead you to the center of yourself. Over and over and over again.

These letters are part of an ongoing project:
"WORD OF THE DAY :: living life one word at a time."
Today's word is COURAGE. don't be 'fraid of nuthin!
See more letters and words at my Patch of Sky Etsy shop, here.

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