A Little Risky

Nov 7, 20232 min read

Failure, in our culture portends failure, dead ends, bankruptcy.

🎶 Dun dun dun …..🙀

But artists know that failure is an essential part of the creative process.

Let’s not even call it failure.

What if we chose a different lens? 🔍

What of we saw the messes we made, the ideas that flopped, the rubbish we’ve collected - what if we saw those twists and turns through the lens of growth.

Or better yet, play? 🎭

You all know my story.

You know that I grew up believing I was scared of all change and with that story, all risk.

But after my husband died, I saw through a new lens.

Not right away, and not every day, but more often than not - I see change and risk, the twists and turns in everyday life, as a creative, playful process.

Someone told me once - (I wish I could remember who!) that the excitement and fear I feel when I am about to do something entirely new and scary is my body signaling to me that I AM ALIVE. 🎉

Think about that for a moment.

We spend most of the time feeling pretty one-note, somatically speaking.

Last night I was a featured storyteller in a moth-style event called Storyboom.

As I got closer to the venue, I felt all those butterflies. 😬

Leading up to the evening, I prepared a lot. I wish I prepared more, of course. But I felt that I had prepared enough to then “give it up to the gods.”

And I did.

I knew there was a chance I’d loose my place. I knew I might forget a line or even a whole paragraph.

But I also knew that I wasn’t going to turn back.

I was seeing through the lens of growth and play.

And you know what?

I did get lost in the middle for a moment.

(I kept going and no-one noticed anything).

Preparation helped (a LOT).

It has taken many decades to TRUST A CREATIVE PROCESS that is essential for me to feel truly alive. 💃🏽

And that process INCLUDES all the chance happenings, twists, flops, fear, mess and thrill that comes from taking a risk to push outside of your comfort zone just a little in order to grow. 🌱

What small risk can you take to get your blood pumping and feel more alive today?