Something in the Air?

Have you ever noticed that at certain times you have an idea or thought, and all of the sudden it seems like you see it reflected everywhere?


I was thinking about a post I wanted to write today about goal setting for the new year. Actually about the mindset to have when you think about setting your goals. The word that came to mind for me was being "Fearless". How often do we set goals we already know we can do? Certainly most of our goals will fall into that territory. But what about listening to the goals your heart has it's sights on? Yes, they may be scary, impossible, or out of your range. But maybe, just maybe, you only think they are. Maybe, your heart knows better than your head.

As I sat down to the computer to begin to compose this blog, I checked my e-mail first, and had an email from Knitting Daily, about Knitting Fearlessly. Of course, this got my attention. As I read through the post, I was more and more engaged. She was saying what I was thinking, and saying it so well. Here are a few of my favorites from the post (with my alternative noun/verb in parentheses):

"Did you Knit (Create) Fearlessly? What would you knit (create) in 2008 if you were really the knitter (artist) you've always dreamed of being?
Here's some things to think about:
• Is there something you haven't tried because it seems Too Scary?
• Is there a technique you want to learn, or learn to do more skillfully?
• Is there something that stumps you?
• Is there something that you are dying to try, in your secret knitter's
(artist's) heart, but haven't dared because you think you're not a good
enough knitter (artist)?
• Are you always knitting (creating) The Same Old Things, and you'd
like to try something new?

I think we all have things we shy away from simply because we have not put on our Fearless Hat or Fearless Cloak....or whatever it is that we need to don, in order to take on that Fearless Attitude. In the end, that is what it really is about, .....attitude. It is the willingness to just try. Maybe it will not work out. But most of the time, the risks are far less than we imagine them to be.
There is something about fear that makes magnifies our worries. It is as if we look at the possible consequences of something going wrong in a fun house mirror....full of distortion and magnification. When we can set that fear aside for just a little bit, and start looking at the facts, the real risks,often they are far more than manageable than we imagined.

My big accomplishment last year was doing my first wholesale show. To say I was anxious about many aspects of doing a wholesale show would be an understatement. But the feeling that I wanted to do a wholesale show kept surfacing. When the ACRE show came up last year, the question about whether or not I wanted to do it came up again. At first I decided against it. Too much risk. But it just did not feel fully settled. The question kept coming up again and again in my head.

I sat down and wrote down the costs. Wrote down what I was worried about. Wrote down what the potential gains of doing the show would be. And when I was all done, my decision was made. There was no question. I needed to do the show. As the time came closer to get ready for the show, the anxiety surfaced again, but in the end, it was all very doable. After it was all over, I saw how much I made a big deal out of something that really wasn't. I did my homework. I was prepared. And it turned out great.

So, what will I do that will scare me this year? I am not sure. Maybe setting the goals at the beginning of the year is a bit arbitrary. Maybe it is more about being ready and open to the opportunities that present themselves, and being ready to say "yes".

So, shall this be the year of creating Fearlessly? What scary goal will you take on this year? Will it be applying to your first show? Or making an appointment with a local shop to see if they want to carry your work? Or, exploring some new ideas that you are not sure about? Maybe, like me, you don't know right now how you might be fearless this year. But we can work on the attitude. Maybe knit ourselves a Fearless Hat for when the time comes! Of course, Fearless Hats don't have patterns. They come from our hearts.