Have
Courage
“Be
brave enough to try something new; you might just succeed.”
Stacey
Kehoe
I commented to my friend,
Garvice, last week that hanging my art up for strangers to look at
was a little like hanging nude photos of myself. (He pleaded with me
not to do that!) But I'll bet you know what I mean. Any time you put
yourself out in a new way, or even in an old way, but publicly for
the first time, there is a stripping of ego that makes you feel
extremely vulnerable. There is risk involved—people may criticize,
may hate your work, may dish on you in social media. Here is some
sage advice my daddy would give: “Buck-up, Bucko. Grow a spine!”
He always was the compassionate type.
Many of us don't do
things we truly want to do simply because we're afraid. The courage
to try new things is essential for entrepreneurs and creative people.
I have allowed fear to stop me from doing far too many things in my
life. I wonder whether you have, too. I realize now, from the vantage
point of old age, that time is running out for doing what I have
wanted to do since my teens. My art—good, bad or inconsequential—is
soul work, and soul work is meant to be shared with others because it
may help them to realize the importance of their own soul work. So, I
will suck-up my fear and get on with it—and so must you.
Marie Sexton, in her book
Between Sinners and Saints, put it this way: “I realized
something on the ride. I realized if I wait until I'm not scared to
try new things, then I'll never get to try them at all.” I tell
myself—and you—shake in your boots if you must, but try new things anyway.
Do not let fear win, or you will miss out on your precious life, and
that would be such a shame.
If there is something you
truly want to do, go do it in spite of fear. It's okay to be
afraid—everybody is whether they admit it or not. Just don't live
from that place. If I can do this, believe me, anybody can. Buck-up,
Bucko!
In the Spirit,
Jane
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