Risk: Be Brave

Original watercolor by Kate Kroska

Musing... 
 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."   - Mark Twain

Compare the difference in feeling you have about yourself, when you think of a time that you let your doubt and fear hold you back from something you really wanted to do versus a time when you made yourself just Go For It! There is such a feeling of mastery when you risk facing your fears head-on.

Kate’s Turn:
Thirteen years ago, literally, I threw off the bowlines, and my husband and I sailed to the Caribbean, making it our home. At the time, it felt so extreme, so “out of the box”; I had much fear and doubt about how it would all play out. In spite of the losses I felt in leaving my home, community, and career, and the fears I had about our security and all the unknowns, I HAD to experience the adventure, and so I let courage lead the way.

Now, looking back, I can name the blessings and gifts of that adventure in extraordinary experiences, friends, and personal growth unimagined. One specific outcome is the unfolding of my watercolor artistry. Another is the belief that I can do anything I have a desire to do when I apply myself.

Get Fired Up:
How do you foster being courageous in expressing your creativity?
What is the thing you know you MUST do?

“The winds of grace are always blowing; it is you that must raise your sails.”
- Rabindranath Tagore

Risk: Trust

Musing…

It turns out that the name of Windhover Center for the Performing Arts was inspired by a poem of Gerard Manley Hopkins “To a Windhover”, referring to a falcon “notable for hovering in the air with its head against the wind …symbolic of the soaring of man’s imagination and the spiritual quest that informs great art” (Ina Hahn). One metaphor plucked from a poem to name a place where dance coexists with nature.

Charise’s Turn:

On the second night of our performance of The Crowning of the Woodland Queen at Windhover, the stage was wet with rain. An hour to showtime and some were wiping off folding chairs while others were getting costumes on, moving forward with the production even though more rain was predicted. “Are we really going to perform outside?!” was all I could say, feeling anxious about dancing on a surface which was still slick after mopping. The response from Karen, our director, and Hugo, our sound and lighting man, was an emphatic “yes”.  Karen came up with the brilliant idea to take off the soaked Marley floor that was taped over the wood of the stage, revealing the promise of dryness underneath. With this, Karen became the remover of obstacles, and her trust that we would brave the elements was the risk we all had to take. She wouldn't buy into defeat; her vision of success was clear. And so was the night sky over us.

Get Fired Up:

Your creative vision requires your trust. That’s the bottom line.