Sometimes we allow ourselves to dream as big as possible. We practice mindfulness, visualize success, and write journal entries to our future selves, planning how we'll celebrate once this goal is accomplished. Sometimes the biggest dreams come true. The book deal. The promotion. The Thing You Said You'd Buy When You Got A Raise. The rainbow baby. The degrees. A successful launch. Whatever you measure that matters to you. And sometimes, the reality around us when we check the biggest boxes doesn't feel the way we thought it would or could. Learning how to feel through this, process it, and come back to our work is critical to our creativity, no matter how it manifests. May we all give ourselves grace when navigating the space created after we accomplish a huge life goal. If we aren't curious, we might mistake it for emptiness and chase something to fill it, instead of allowing room for something delightfully unexpected to come through. Now, settle in to your coziest spot with your favorite beverage, a blanket, and gift yourself the time and space to enjoy a longer read. Read Sydney's post below, and follow the link to the Hiking My Feelings blog for the rest.
This isn't how I thought this would go. I've kept so much of my writing to myself since I turned in the manuscript for this book. Excavating the writing I did in 2019, reliving the stories, and writing entirely new material to round it out was the most difficult writing I've ever done. Since I turned in the manuscript, I haven't felt inspired to write for me, and it's been hard to do anything but write to document all of the challenges we've experienced since around this time last year. On Tuesday, I saw my book on a shelf for the first time - a shelf I didn't coordinate - at Barnes & Noble. This dream, similar to movie scenes where musicians hear their song on the radio for the first time, had taken up so much space in my mind, body and spirit. To see it realized is something I had been looking forward to for DECADES. Welp. It wasn't anything like what I thought it would be or imagined it could be. The day was absolute hell in a hand basket, and after recovering on Wednesday, I went for a hike on Thursday with Barry. As soon as we got home, I started writing. Not to document. Not to process. Not in any app to share. Really writing for the love of it. Headphones in, finding flow immediately. Before I knew it, hours (days?) had passed and I had pages and pages of writing I was proud of. I closed the computer feeling satisfied in a way I haven't felt since this time last year when I was wrapping up the manuscript. When I revisited it today, I didn't know if the writing was for me or something I wanted to share. But if writing for the love of it is wrong, I don't wanna be right. "Living On A Prayer" is on the Hiking My Feelings blog. If it resonates, I hope you'll let me know. 💚 https://lnkd.in/g4w_kniB #HikingMyFeelings #HikingYourFeelings #InspiredByNature #NewBookSmell