Daily Courage

One of the realities of life is that we never know what is around the bend. Sometimes it takes great courage to deal face what we are handed. Like many women, I bought into a lot of the myths of motherhood. If I did things the “right way”, I would be fine and my children would be healthy and happy. Twenty-one years ago today, I gave birth to my first child, a boy named Brendan Patrick. Fairytales seemed to lie ahead with this little angel baby in my arms.

The one gift I wanted him to receive from me was self-confidence and a love of himself. What I didn’t know was that just because I did all the things a “good mother” does, there were no guarantees. I won’t go into the details because my cross is no heavier that anyone else’s. It’s how I dealt with it that is the point of this post. But it had to do with family health battles, and a rotten disease – Crohns.

I let worry and angst take me over. Without realizing it, I stopped nurturing myself and my own soul. I depleted any emotional reserves I had in the bank and fell hard and fast into an emotional breakdown prefaced by a panic attack. I nearly took my family down with me when I went.

I have built a career on talking to other women about the importance of nurturing themselves, taking time to creatively express themselves and inspiring them with articles and books. But, I myself had lost the balance and instead focussed on many things I could not control. Because I didn’t honor the signs my heart, soul and body were trying to give me. Because I didn’t stop to listen to, the deciding was done for me. I was knocked flat out, physically and emotionally. 

It was time to enter into a period of deep introspection, circle the family wagons, and make some changes. I developed a Wellness Plan. A component of it is to nurture my creative side, and get back to walking my talk. That has put me back in my craft studio. And back to writing. I was writing for everyone else, but not for me.

I think that is why I particularly enjoyed the Blogging for Bliss blog tour party that launched yesterday. I got to look into the creative souls of many wonderful women. Some of whom I am sure have had similar experiences to mine. (And then there are those better-balanced women who know that you don’t let up on the things that nurture you when the going gets rough.)

Happily, the Birthday Boy is doing very well after a wonderful wilderness therapy program. Our daughter is serving as a junior counselor at a camp for young people with Crohn’s Disease, where she is sharing her story that while you may walk in the valley at times, the illness is manageable and life moves on. And so do I. Wiser than before, back at the keyboard and putting in time  with my jumbled array of ribbons, papers, buttons, baubles and other craft supplies.

Time to crank out a few new crowns and perhaps some new jewelry designs from the watch parts I found at the Alameda Flea Market on an outing with dear friend Judy Watkins.

Whatever you do, don’t stop creating!

There is lots of talk about the importance of “finding your voice” in blogging. Experts will tell you that you need to talk about things of interest, have a unique message, be transparent, etc. Being a print journalist by training (I could date myself talking about things like waxers, and I don’t mean for your legs), I place high value on the importance of communicating a clear message. Like all of us, as this new age of social media unfolds, I have wondered where I fit and what messages would be worth someone else spending the time to read. 

The clouds parted over the weekend, and I had the moment of creative syncronicity I have been waiting for. The Red Lips 4 Courage  blog-Daily Courage-is going to do what I have always done best. Tell the stories of regular everyday women who have had the courage to create. While I was editor of Romantic Homes magazine, I had the opportunity to introduce our readers to many wonderful women and to tell their stories. This created an intimacy among women who would not have otherwise met each other. It allowed the real life experiences of real women to inspire others. 

Not all days are happy ones. Some seasons are filled with angst. What pulls us through is faith and courage. Often, we have to look outside of ourselves and into the lives of others to see how we can find our own way. Daily Courage will tell the stories of women who have had the courage to create. They have had the courage to go against the odds, to appreciate their great gifts, and to have the confidence, and yes, the courage, to share them with others. 

I may have wandered while searching, but I have found my voice! Again. Stay tuned for some amazing stories.

Okay, I am trying for heaven’s sake. I know its not like bombs are going off around us literally, but it feels enough like a war zone for my taste. 

The RL4C offices are a lovely spot, but there is an isolation issue seeing as I am permanently in the Employee of the Month parking spot because the rest of the team is scattered about cyberspace. Which means there are no water cooler or coffee room interactions to perk me up about all the negative news these days. (Note to self: Do NOT open the blast from Publisher’s Weekly first thing in the morning.)  

When I first saw this reproduction of the famous war  poster that graced London during the Blitz, I thought it was cute and quaint. Now I think the King and Queen at the time were brilliant. I get it, I get it. Keep Calm and Carry On.

Let’s all try to pull together and do just that. We creative types have a tendency to be overly sensitive and drink things in. We are often easily influenced by environments. It’s clearly in our best interest to heed the advise of the poster of another time in history.

BTW: I found this on Etsy. There are a couple of artists selling them. Be nice and run a search for all the others if you’re shopping.