Today, I helped a photographer dig through the idea of moving her small business somewhere new, somewhere that she dreams to be. There’s a lot of mixed feelings and fears that come up when you think of uprooting yourself and making the choice to follow your heart. Talking ideas out, uncovering possibilities and naming your fears can often help you realize that following your truth isn’t as scary as it seems.
The hardest work does not involve the planning or thinking of the future, but the actual jump towards following your heart, (you know, that BIG FIRST step from where you are now toward where you dream to be). It doesn’t feel secure at all when you think about making the choice to follow your feelings OVER listening to your fears, but I’m learning it’s indeed the fullest way to live in the universe.
In the past few weeks I’ve found myself inspired by a close friend who finally said yes to the call to follow her heart in a very real way. Her courage and vulnerability has forced me to think more about things I would pursue if fears didn’t enter the equation. So many ideas come to the surface with excitement, (more children, a year on the road with my family, photographing births more full time, opening up an ice cream shop/record/book/coffee shop (yup!), coaching other business owners through their transitions, a minimalist blog encouraging people to let go, a travel blog for people with families, and so on ). Often, if not always, these dreams are followed by the voice of reason & fear, “I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, and I’ll most definitely fail.”
In the past, I’ve found myself stalling right there, with that voice of reason, and not doing the work to explore those dreams of my heart much further, but lately I’ve been finding myself stuck because I’ve listened too long to fear. I’ve been working to fight this habit by replacing the fear with: How will it make me feel if I actually proceed with the opportunity? If it’s something that would make me feel good, then I am trying to work towards saying YES and not stalling at the voice of fear.
Do you dream of doing something new with your life? How would making this change make you feel? If you knew this change would be successful, (defined on your own terms), where would you go.what would you do.what opportunities would you be saying yes to?
A few photos below from the road trip we took a couple years ago. This was a dream of mine and when we decided to go through with it, fear lived by my side daily. These photos are a reminder to me that fear doesn’t ever go away, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t keep following where my heart is leading me.
