Are You Feeling Bald?

Image via WikipediaYou gotta love kids.  I was recently teaching a class on feelings and the book I was reading had the line in it... "Are you feeling bold?".  I've learned never to assume that children know what I am talking about, so I stopped and asked the kindergarten class if they knew what bold meant.  Being five and six year olds they of course did.  The child I called on confidently replied "You know, it's when you have no hair."

I thought about this story as I worked on my yearly goals.  A couple of them involve stepping way out of my comfort zone and I'm having a hard time getting past that.  What concerns me?  Failure and rejection to name a few DEVASTATING  feelings. Certainly is hard to quiet that negative voice inside, isn't it?  What does it take to make a difference in the world though?  Taking a calculated risk?  Sailing in new seas?  Feeling bald...I mean bold?

Running in the Bathtub

I was teaching a kindergarten class on safety rules and when I asked the students to give me some examples of rules they followed to stay safe, they eagerly volunteered. "Wear your seat belt in the car." "Don't run in the halls." "Never play with fire." My all time favorite though, was the child who volunteered, "NEVER run in the bathtub."

Don't you just love the unpredictability of children? Don't you love their fresh quirky perceptions of the world? After all, it is a good rule, don't you think? What happens to adults that we lose this spontaneity? We steer our lives toward the mundane, the routine. How we limit ourselves when we do this! It's as though we could be seeing the world in color but we restrict it to black and white. We could see the panoramic view but we choose binoculars instead. Is it comfort? Fear of the unfamiliar? What a challenge it is to see the world through new eyes each day. In order to do this we must first put aside our preconceived notions and rules. We must look for and expect the unusual, the extraordinary. We must be open to new experiences and visions.

A favorite quote of mine by Muriel Chen is, "We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore." How true this is! Lately my new ocean has been publishing a children's book. What a challenge this is for me as I step nervously into the world of self-publishing. This is definitely a new ocean for me and the voice of caution is continuously in my ear, "What if it is not successful?" "What if I spend too much?" "What if the product doesn't look good?" What if's haunt me. Yet I am also exhilerated by the sense of moving forward. I have sat on these stories for years while I tried to determine how to get them published, illustrated, on the market. It is an awesome feeling to finally have the finish line in my sights. Though I have not finished in as timely a manner as I would have wished, the journey has been very enlightening. I have learned a lot that will help me publish the next story in a much more efficient manner. In order to do this though, I have had to lose sight of the conventional method of publishing and move into uncharted oceans. I have had to lose sight of the comfortable shore of my daily job and take on a new role, a new perspective. Sometimes it is excitingly new! Other times it is scary and ill fitting. Many times I have to quiet the critical, doomsday voice inside me and wake up the encouraging positive voice instead.

What about you? Where in your world do you need to change your perceptions, see through new eyes, challenge your status quo? Are you charting new oceans? Or are you still stuck clinging to the familiar shore and running in the bathtub?

Feel the Fear. Do It Anyway.

This week while reading a helpful little book called Release Your Writing by Helen Gallagher, I came across this quote from Helen Keller: "Feel the fear and do it anyway". I have been contemplating the implications of this thought ever since. Gallagher used the quote to encourage writers who might be experiencing writer's block but I feel sure Helen Keller was not referring to something so mundane. Certainly she had plenty to fear, and in fact, the word terror could perhaps be used to describe some of the feelings she had when faced with the giant obstacles she overcame on a daily basis. When I compare my challenges to hers, they sure do feel small and insignificant. Yet fear is a part of everyone's life, even if the challenges are different for each of us. Many people are quite fearful of speaking to a large crowd. This does not bother me but the thought of selling something to someone by making a 'cold call' sets me quaking in my boots. We all have our comfort zones and stepping out of them often results in fear. Sometimes the fear paralyzes us. Sometimes it makes us rationalize staying the in the same place. Sometimes we move so cautiously and slowly that it is hard to tell if we are really moving at all. If we take this advice to heart, we recognize the risk but decide that it is worth it and do it anyway. Certainly Helen Keller knew what she was talking about. I have to ask myself: What am I afraid of? What would happen if I did it anyway?