More + more, I’m convinced that the deepest tool for supporting our growth is simply showing up.

Being visible + vulnerable.

I re-learned this (for the millionth or so time) a few weeks ago when I launched the Kickstarter.

I was feeling ready + positive + excited, and then I pressed publish + proceeded to absolutely lose my mind.

I felt terrible, suddenly panicked that I wasn’t actually ready, that it wasn’t going to work, that I’d missed something essential, that I hadn't done enough to prepare. And why wasn’t the campaign fully funded by hour 3!? Surely this was an ominous sign of impending disaster.

But I’ve been through this enough to know my next steps: take a breath, check in, and do the work to remember that this is exactly what I can expect when I’m visible in the world doing things that matter to me.

Freakout is a normal response when we show up for our dreams.

Which isn’t always so pleasant or comfortable, but the magic of the freakout is that it brings all of those feelings + patterns of thinking to the surface. It reveals the anxieties + insecurities + doubts.

Which offers an opportunity to work through them + move forward anyway.

To notice the patterns + feel the feelings + identify the stories -- and then show ourselves that these don’t have to stop us.

And *this* is what propels learning + growth + identity shifts more than just about anything else I’ve encountered.

So this is my plug for showing up + feeling terrible + continuing on anyway.

Because our work + our vision + our art + our dreams + our voices matter.

And what we create + who we become in the process of claiming all of it is something truly remarkable, life-affirming, and worth showing up for.