a kingdom built of seeds

Do you ever have days you feel stuck, barely able to move your feet, anxious then anxious about being anxious about what you have to do, need to do, should do—so overwhelmed you can’t begin anything at all. As much as this applies to ordinary, everyday, mundane life, I think it may especially apply to creative and entrepreneurial pursuits; to hidden dreams and quiet desires for more. But most of us are perpetually caught in the seedling stage, unable to break through the surface. 

Often, we don’t even know where to start. We don’t know what to begin with. We don’t know what to focus on. It’s overwhelming. But it’s necessary. It’s leaping into the void, having no idea where we’ll land.

In leaping, we choose to reveal ourselves—heart and soul. It’s uncomfortable. It’s risky. What we experience and create and write and sing and share may be exactly what someone else needs to hear, see, or know. How can we miss the opportunity? How can we go through life having always held in what needed to be given? When we keep what we are supposed to give, it eats us alive. Something beautiful becomes a torment, a sense of loss. Our silence destroys us unless we are willing to move past our fear and share the blessings inherent to us.

What does this mean, what does this look like, for you, for me? What is our specific expression in the world?

What are the things (thoughts, beliefs, emotions, feelings) that keep us stuck, hold us back, and cause paralysis? And how can we overcome them?

It’s praying and acting, waiting and moving. It’s discipline and spontaneity. It’s commitment and flow. It’s perseverance and willingness to change. It’s knowing when to start, and when to stop. It’s being true to yourself while trying to reach others. It’s authenticity and sometimes a little healthy compromise. It’s being willing to fail more than you succeed; it’s facing the constant possibility (or probability) of rejection. There might be one good day and 50 bad. There might be one success for 100 failures. And it would still be worth it when you could honestly say, “I know I’ve tried. I know I’ve used what I have.”

Do the work and let the results be what they may.

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