I am usually a very guarded person and am hesitant to let people into my heart and dreams. This is because I am at times paralyzed with fear of failure and being judged. I have had several moments lately where I can’t help but think that my failure is a result of being afraid to share my dreams, hopes and fears. Taking a risk is part of achieving our dreams. I’m trying to break down my walls of fears and stop letting fear hold me back.

A Moment of Honesty

I have had a nagging desire to write a blog. A blog more for my own thoughts than anything else. A place where I could share words that matter to me and, when I’m honest with myself, words that someone else might care to read. For years now I have had a nagging wish to lift and inspire others. Life can be overwhelming and the forces of evil are out to tear us down as we try to raise families that worship and follow God. Through trial and error, hard work, mistakes, and even regrets I have learned so much as a homeschooling mom. Over the years I have appreciated the words of wisdom and encouragement from other homeschool moms that I have found on the internet. I have been doing this for quite awhile now and I am still in the trenches and working hard to make this work. I hope that someone will find my words a bright spot in a difficult time or will know that through the hard times we are also surrounded by so many wonderful things as we take on the enormous responsibility of not only raising but also educating our children.

When I would think of writing a blog I have been scared of getting it wrong. I felt I had to have everything figured out before I jumped in. I have stood at the edge of the water and every few months I get the courage to gingerly stick my toe into the water. But then after I have completed a post, fear takes over again and, I am filled with doubt and question what I am thinking. The thought that I will fail takes over and I don’t post again for weeks (or even months). Not because I don’t have ideas or thoughts I would like to share but that I somehow have to have the right, even perfect, thoughts for them to be worth sharing.

Words That Inspired

I am a big fan of James Clear. He is the author of Atomic Habits, a book that I would highly recommend. He sends out a weekly newsletter that contains – 3 ideas from James Clear, 2 quotes from other people that he finds inspirational, and 1 question to consider. In this week’s email he had a quote that made me stop and think that I am approaching my dreams all wrong. That I am waiting until I am perfect to take a risk. I would laugh at someone who told me they weren’t going to mess up a canvas or waste paint until they had thought about painting enough to get it right. Of course, you have to paint and make mistakes to ever become a master painter.

If I have a dream of writing and putting my thoughts into words then I must write and take a risk that I might not get it perfect. But that’s okay. “The best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.” It’s time to get to work!

This is a copy of the full quote from James Clear’s email.

Painter and visual artist Chuck Close on inspiration:

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to do an awful lot of work.

All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”

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