Fearless Fun Friday: Guest Post–Lisa from Sacred Circle

One of the greatest expressions of joy in my life is through creativity.  I believe creativity flows naturally from a heart that is overflowing…with love and joy, or angst.  Either way.  A healthy, safe way to allow your heart whispers to roam….

I actively look for creative inspiration…I want my creativity to fluorish, to fill my space, to touch every area of my life…..

Today I have a guest author who inspires me to play more, try new mediums, embrace life most fully.  Many moons ago, she suggested finger painting, and the children and I along with anyone else in our clubhouse, have been fingerpaintiong our way to bliss….cool for my little family because we don’t like to purposely make a mess.  Yet we are learning to make a “mess” in a fun, creative way….

Lisa’s blog Sacred Circle and newsletter encourages, inspires, motivates me to continue to try new and different.  Here she is today to share with us her take on boldness/fearlessness.  *And*, get this!!!!  Lisa is offering one free coaching session, or $100 off of her retreat, to one lucky reader.  Leave a comment about how you best express fearlessness and Lisa will pick the lucky winner.  Since it is a holiday weekend, the contest will close June 2nd.  So, leave a comment before June 2nd 9pm pacific time to be entered in the drawing to win.  Thank you Lisa for your generosity, and for sharing here with us today!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.”

~Georgia O’Keefe

          When Joy invited me to write a guest post for “Fearless Fun Friday,” I danced.  I mean, give me an opportunity to make some kind of sense out of fear, and it becomes something personal.  My intention for the year is Boldness, which might lead one to assume that I’m willing to take chances, live with audacity and courage, and jump from airplanes….  NOT!  The truth is, fear visits me often.  With two young kids, a fledging business in the process of learning to use its wings, and a pretty swell existence, how could it not? There’s the fear of something whisking it all away with one foul swoop, the fear of not living up to my own (sometimes unruly) expectations, the fear of kidnappers and car accidents, the fear of failure and even of being crazy successful.

          The funny thing is, the more I got to thinking about fear and fearlessness, the more I realized that fear isn’t something to conquer or overcome or fix or get rid of, like we’re taught over and over again in our self-help, overprescribed-anti-anxiety-meds culture…  and I’d even venture to say that fearlessness isn’t really the lack of fear, although perhaps it’s the closest word in the English language that can really describe what I’m getting at… To me, fearlessness is the moxie it takes to exist mindfully with fear, to feel the fear and keep moving forward anyhow, to maybe even stop for a brief tango with it and learn a lesson or two, and then carry on.

          You see, we’ve all got ‘em…  those pesky monsters that stop us dead in our tracks, make our feet stick to the ground as if they were smeared with crazy glue, and have us paralyzed in our comfort zones.  They’re mischievous little buggers, hiding out in unexpected places ready to pounce like an ornery kitten.  They can be so powerful that they can literally take our breath away and require us to hold paper bags up to our mouths, and so sneaky and subtle that somehow our lives begin to dissolve into our daily to-dos and a sense of mediocrity. 

          So, how, you might be wondering, do we keep moving forward with fear tugging at our sleeves, grasping at our ankles or constantly babbling scary notions into our ears?  This is where the “fun” part comes in…. 

          ~ Invite the monsters in for tea.  Sit ‘em down and entertain them with the juice of who you are, and then, as is proper with all guests, politely send them on their merry way with gratitude and their bellies full of chocolate chip cookies.  Befriending our fear might sound like a radical, maybe even impossible idea, but it’s when we give our power over to our fear that it gets really scary.  Ask anyone who experiences panic attacks, and they’ll likely agree that in most cases, the fear itself is much more terrifying than whatever triggered their response.  Sitting with it, as uncomfortable as it might be, and allowing our awareness to unfold around what frightens us, gives us the ability to determine what is actually holding us back…. and it’s usually ourselves!

          ~  Be responsible response-able….  I’m not saying this in a preachy, parental way…. rather, I invite you to embrace your ability to respond in whatever way you choose.  You can choose to collapse, become a victim, take tranquilizers and tune out on old Seinfeld reruns;  you can blame others for how you feel;  you can beat yourself up for feeling the fear to begin with…  all to which I’d venture to ask, “how’s that working for you?”   OR, you can choose what you want in your life and move toward it; you can honor yourself by choosing self-love over guilt, well-intended foibles and silly mistakes over perfection, and enoughness over lack;  you can plaster your walls with empowering affirmations, hang out with positive folks, and imagine a shield of white light around you; you can look your fear in the eye and declare that it does not define who you are.

          ~  Dare to find meaning and value in your wildest imaginings.  As author John Shedd once wrote, “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”   What are you built for?  Are you built for playing it safe and hiding away under the covers or for embarking on this adventure called life, even when the waves are a little rocky?  Are you built for settling for less than what truly makes you happy or for ferocious dreaming and engaging in life on purpose and out loud? Are you built for wallowing in the judgments and expectations of others or for dancing to your own magnificent rhythm?   

          ~  Infuse your life with clear intention.  It’s easy to crumble in fear and forgo an adventure if we go at it in a piddly, wish washy way….  But when we have a clear intention, it’s like having a flashlight and a compass tucked inside your back pocket, and makes you ready for the next time that your fear comes a-courtin’…  which indeed it will.  A word of caution though-  there’s an enormous difference between intention and goals….  While goals can be useful tools, they are more focused on how it’s all going to look in the end, once we’ve actually fulfilled them.  Intention, on the other hand, acknowledges the fact that we’re all on a journey that really has no end, that we’re all works in progress, and it has the ability to fulfill you in this very moment.  It could simply be a word or affirmation to return to over and over when you’ve fallen flat on your face, found yourself way off course or when you’ve spent an entire weekend wrapped up in your fear.  It might be a phrase or even a poem that helps you feel safe and nurtured and brave.  It might be a photograph that depicts the courageous you from back in the day.  You’ve found the right intention when it causes butterflies to swarm into your belly, not just from fear or nervousness, but also from the excitement and joy of connecting to your own sparkly potential. 

How do you embrace fearlessness in your life?  I’d love to hear! 

(And thank you, Joy, for the fun opportunity to visit with my monsters!)

Thank *you* Lisa.  Please visit Lisa at Sacred Circle–check out her blog, retreat information, and sign up for her newsletter that will encourage you to embrace fun and joy in wonder filled ways…..