by Laura West
Last week I was at a creativity conference in Santa Fe called Creative Reboot.
The biggest reason I went was because the iconic Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, was speaking. I’ve been doing morning pages for about 20 years since being introduced to this concept.
There were also several of my early creativity inspirations including Melody Ross from Brave Girl who helped me years ago create my very first homemade art journal soul book. Also, Flora Bowley who taught me Intuitive Painting and opened up the door for me to paint without worry and without attachment to an outcome. These ladies all shared with me practices to allow me to feel more free and expressive over the years.
Then of course, I justified the trip as a birthday gift to myself! (Coming up this weekend – woohoo!)
What I didn’t expect was that on the opening night there would be a firewalk!
I’ve always heard of them but I’ve never seen one. It’s when they prepare a fire and a bed of hot coals and you walk across 8 – 10 feet of those red hot coals… without burning your feet.
I immediately was thrown into a pendulum of swinging emotions. Thinking… I always wanted to do a fire walk. Mark one off the Life List! This will be awesome!
To: Oh Sh*t! What if I can’t do it? What if I get burned? What if I’m the only one who gets burned? What if I chicken out?
Oh the JoyFear!
I decided to go with the crowd outside and to trust.
I was in the first group to go. I watched as several people crossed without getting burned. (See, they can do it!) Then I felt a little panic rising up.
I checked in. I knew my desire to do this was bigger than the fear.
I went deep inside to my core where my belief in my power and my strength lives…and I walked across hot coals!
It was amazingly freeing on the other side!
Here’s some pictures one of the participants took (that’s not me walking) of the firewalk. You get it’s hot!
That experience was such proof about how our minds and emotions rule!
I knew what to DO. It’s wasn’t the doing, it was about being.
It’s just like growing your business. You often know what to DO.
It’s the stories we tell ourselves, our deeper emotions and what our come from place when we DO something that makes all the difference in our success!
It’s why I believe that when you are truly in high vibration of joy, love, positivity, optimism, appreciation, beauty and belief then anything is possible!
Next time you feel JoyFear or you may describe it as overwhelm, practice going deep inside to the truth and shift your story.
Here’s a short practice to use:
- What is it you really, really want?
- What is the story about the fear you are experiencing?
- Who would you be without that story?
- What is the new story and deeper truth you choose to believe?
