BR CHAPTER 11

It’s Friday (!), and I’m just now getting our next book club blog post up. My apologies! I’m currently putting all the final touches on Brazen, which sort of took over everything else this week. But here I am, excited to be talking about chapter 11 together. The themes of this chapter are particularly relevant to me right now as I nail down another book and continue to “Decide what I want and go for it.” So let’s talk it through . . .

Recently I stole some time with a couple of girlfriends to chase after our inner artists and honor that voice within that was asking for some expression. We compiled snacks and beverages. One of my friends made a moody mix and brought a table full of supplies — canvases, brushes, paints, pallets.

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We put a sheet down to serve as our drop cloth and we started. We grabbed colors that spoke to us and munched on chips and spicy shrimp ceviche. We drank ice cold Coronas with lime and we swayed to the music. It was like Moms Gone Wild for a couple hours there! We were absolutely in this world of our own making, a million miles away from tasks and responsibilities, and we put our heads down and created. You ever notice how the best stuff emerges in conversation when everyone’s focused on something else? We had our eyes on our canvases and hands moving, and the most tender, hilarious, bonding moments arrived!

That evening reminded me of how the things we love bring us back to ourselves, how getting our hands moving heals us, and how stealing time to chase down some beauty is always such a win.

 

 

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If you’re considering a move in a certain direction, striking out into a new project or endeavor or possibility, I just want you to know that I think these pursuits matter. We will face resistance (read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield), we will face setbacks, even failure (read Rising Strong by Brene Brown), we will face fear (read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert). All of this is totally normal  . . . and maybe even necessary . . . in the creative journey. The resistance, failure, and fear create a tension that produces new and interesting things if we’ll decide what we want and go for it.

This is all particularly relevant to me today. Some years of my life, I have wrestled with, “Decide what you want.” Other seasons in my life, I’ve wrestled with “And go for it.” Right now, I know what I want. I have done the work of discerning and deciding. Now, I have to do the courageous work of GOING FOR IT, which is vulnerable in its own ways, too. Whether you’re trying to decide what you want OR you’re trying to decide how big you’re going to go for it, I get it.

So today, I’m making a pact with my work — the work that is waiting for me once I push “publish” on this post — and I believe that as I commit to the work God’s given me to do, he will be my co-conspirator, my midwife, my fairy godmother, helping me get it all done and out into the world. But I have to show up first. Always. Like a marathon runner shows up for training. Disciplined. Consistent. Committed.

Here’s to stealing time, showing up, and fighting for those sacred places and spaces inside us and the work that wants to come forth from our truest selves.

I’m with you,

Leeana

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