The Invitation
‘Sure, I’d love to write on our blog,’ I nonchalantly thought when we floated the idea. I like to write to process. I do that all the time. I have journals full of my thoughts on the world, snippets of the adventure of my life and the inner thoughts of my heart. There are lots of things I’d love to say. I have a story to tell.
And I love my story. In truth, I am not ashamed of it. But to have an audience to my inner thoughts, to put myself ‘in the arena’ as Brene Brown would say (see Daring Greatly), now that is a stretch. I don’t love to post on social media. I have weighed carefully what I bring of myself to the world. This is a revealing of my heart not just to a select few but a presentation of myself to the world - to anyone who might wish to read it.
And yet, ‘Let your voice be heard,’ is the whisper that I hear. There is freedom in putting my heart on paper. Actually, the freedom is in letting it be seen. This is what I believe, this is how I feel. This is me. It is unfiltered and unadulterated. It is undefended.
But it’s just a blog.
Well not to me. I’m a firm believer that the small decisions we make don’t stand alone, they infiltrate our way of thinking. They impact the other choices we make, ones where the stakes might be higher. And this process encompasses so much of what I long for. Deep conviction stirs in me that the world around us is truly what we make it. An enriched place for our contribution to it, a changed one for our influence. So something calls to the deep places in me to not hold back. To catch eyes with the ones who are cheering me on in the crowd and for goodness sake, let my voice be heard.
It’s so easy to champion in others. It’s what I’m passionate about. I see rich beauty in the women I run with and I see where they have limited themselves and held back. I yearn for them take the lid off and let themselves truly live. To bring their expression to the Earth, and to know that it is powerful beyond words. It matters, it changes things. I believe it, I encourage others into it, but if it is for them then it must be for me.
It all ties into this word I can’t get out of my head: Live. Live. I love that word, it invigorates me. But oh how it challenges me. It inspires me to spontaneity and to seize the moment. It calls me to bravery where I have preferred to be sure. But sure takes too long sometimes; sure misses opportunities that carry life and beauty, adventure and excitement. Sure causes me to miss things that feel fulfilling, that leave me in wonder at the world and my God.
’Live’ is my invitation. And I won’t miss it.
Your voice might not be a written one. It might be a dance, a song, a spoken word. It might be a hug, an act, a brave conversation. It might be looking someone in the eye, taking someone by the hand, an expression of your opinion, a standing up for what is right. Whatever your expression, you can be certain that you have a voice, and you can bet that it has a place on the Earth.
So come and join me in the arena. There is room here for us all. Here we determine to move beyond what feels safe and experience the joy and thrill of true living on the other side. We might risk being exposed but we won’t miss out on living our lives. We were made to be alive and to impart life, so let’s cheer each other on and let our voices be heard.
