Tag: fear

as long as you’re breathing

face2facewiththeskyLeave a comment

sometimes we are lost in questions
which is to be lost in things unlived.

ghosts of the past, no longer alive
or ghosts of the future, not yet in form.

but we may make use of lifeless thoughts.

we may recognize the fear in them
and where there is fear
there is the chance to face it.

there will always be the question of giving in.
of loss
death
or any number of misfortunes.

but the choice to face fear anyway
is the end of lifelessness
and listlessness.

each breath you take may be a question:

do I have the strength?

the answer:
as long as you’re breathing

you do.

20 rules for dreamers

face2facewiththeskyLeave a comment
  1. There is no right answer.
  2. Start with options.
  3. Choose flow over force….
  4. …but force if necessary with value-driven action.
  5. The first two hours are a warm up.
  6. Anything can be done ten minutes at a time.
  7. Accept the possibility of making no progress, or a mistake, or a shitty first draft.*
  8. One thing at a time.
  9. Even the greats don’t know what they’re doing half the time.
  10. If you’re not facing your fear, you’re not working.
  11. Limitations are opportunities for creative solutions.
  12. This isn’t about feeling good.
  13. It’s about getting on with your life.
  14. Negative thoughts can be written down, tape recorded, or otherwise set aside so that you can get back to work.
  15. Leave room for what you can’t imagine.
  16. It doesn’t have to make sense.
  17. You don’t have to achieve anything.
  18. Final grades are based 50% on effort and 50% on self-honesty.
  19. It’s okay to take it slow.
  20. Make your own rules.

* See Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

two kinds of fear

face2facewiththesky2 Comments

there are two kinds of fear:

one tells you to turn on your heel, honey, and walk away.

this type of fear whispers you know better.

the other is a big, fat neon arrow pointing toward your dreams.

with this type of fear, you’re petrified, but you sense something delicious in your soul, something that’s begging to be brought into the world.

trust your heart to know the difference.

victory

face2facewiththeskyLeave a comment 
rejoice

in your heartache’s

resurfacing.
in that moment
 long ago
 you had not the strength
 to bear the pain
 meant to be yours alone
so you hid it away

until
today.
accept the confirmation

of your unconscious
for finally

you have passed the test.
feel it throb in every fiber
 & know you will not break.
this has always been 
about power—
seize it.
you are the agent

of your own momentum.
the moment you embrace it
 & declare “this, i can
 abide”—
 its hold upon you
 will ease.
all this time it has waited

for your surrender.
allow it in every atom
 & stand victorious 
among the wreckage of what 
used to be.

youth

face2facewiththeskyLeave a comment 
to be young 
is a frightening thing. 
it means coming up against 
all the darkest 
 things of life: 
 death
 loss
 grief
loneliness
 despair
 before you’ve had the chance
 to understand what they mean.
it means facing certain facts:
the ones you love most 
 you must someday let go;
you will never be the child

you once were;
nor are you likely to become

what you once dreamed of being.
it means staring into your remaining years
 as an unfathomable abyss
& fearing what change

what loss of current circumstance

may take place therein.
it means realizing that: 
the words you least want to listen to
 are those you most need to hear;
joy and loss

are in fact one and the same;
your tears are the bridge
 between your most treasured moments
 & the knowledge of their impermanence;
all things of this world will fade
 & clinging to them cannot prolong the inevitable;
running away only brings you closer

to the thing from which you run;
& the only way for pain to end
 is to feel it as deeply as you can 
 for as long as it wishes to be felt.