“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. — Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” — -William Hutchison Murray (and last lines by Goethe)
I am sitting with such thoughts, such longing, and such desire. Boldness is in the air. The quote above has long served me and it came into my life right before I was married to the love of my life. We have held that quote close, but I fear it’s been underutilized in our lives lately. No more.
I’ve taken a leap and am setting a new course. If you’ve looked around the blog a bit, you’ll see a few changes and you’ll see where you can work with me as a story strategist and facilitator. I’m excited about these changes and I would love to connect with you. Your story, and your boldness, matters.
I want to share a few other quotes and a blog article from a woman who spoke to my very soul this morning.
Saundra Goldman is a writer and creative facilitator that I very much would like to meet. I don’t know how I’ve not met her considering our mutual circles, but her blog post today was exactly what I needed.
Saundra Goldman
“Is a writer, art historian, and ethnographer, searching for patterns in artist’s lives and creative work. She is a curator of art and ideas, a mentor, and a teacher. Through her website and blog, her courses, and one-on-one mentoring, Saundra helps women connect the dots of their creative lives and step up with work that speaks to their deepest calling. And she follows up with simple steps and strategies to manifest that work and build a life that supports it.”
She’s writtenabout the hard truth of answering the call that you hear, deep inside. Please read the whole article but this spoke to me deeply.
“Here is the hard truth of answering a calling, what I want to tell my clients without scaring them:
None of us are prepared, we do not have all the skills required for the job, and it will be harder and take longer than we ever imagined. This is why we hesitate. This is why we are afraid. And yet we’ve been called and so it is our duty to show up. This is our work and it gives purpose to our days.”
No wonder we hesitate. There are so many reasons to want that shying away from commitment, from boldness. It comes from fear, and that fear can manifest itself in so many forms and ways — Too little time, too much work, too daunting, too little money, what about the risk, what if no one likes it, what if no one likes me, oh it’s too daring, too audacious, too hard.
But then that little pull at your soul keeps tugging away. What if we don’t answer the call? What if we don’t do the work? What will we deny the world? That sounds egotistical but what I mean is this: the work each of us do-whether it’s launching a show or taking care of a family member, or cleaning up a creek each week, or rescuing kittens, or going to seminary-it matters in a much bigger picture. Our work affects multitudes and we will probably never ever ever know the impact we have. So denying ourselves the fullness of ourselves denies others.
In that way, it’s less about ego and more about community. If I don’t share, I can’t support you. If you don’t, I won’t benefit from you. If all we do is act on self interest, never responding to something bigger than us, something broader and more resonant? That seems like a bunch of scared bodies moving past each other. I don’t want that for my life.
This morning also brought me a very clean and succinct code of ethics to do that very work, from a woman I admire very very much and have for over 10 years. A friend of mine told me this a good while back and I think I’ll post it pretty much everywhere I go.
“Say what you know is true, do what you know is right, and refuse to fear anyone’s disapproval.”
Be bold, answer the call, tell the truth. My call? You’ll find it here. I’d love to work with you to help you find and tell your story.
photo credit pedromartin