Embrace the Play, Keep Fear at Bay

Dear Friend,

Hello from the road.

I'm back in Canada. I'm here to find the perfect She's Proof campaign van that can take me across the States and also be my home, office, and rolling studio.

I just found out I've been invited to New York on October 8th to speak at United Nations Headquarters, where the Global Mental Health Task Force is holding its first-ever World Mental Health Week Leadership Summit. What better place to launch the She's Proof campaign than from that stage?

I am just gonna say, this all seems very big and very real. And it's only real because of what I walked through to get here.

I'll tell you something that this summer has taught me: DO NOT ENTERTAIN FEAR.

I walked through so much fear this year. I stepped out of my comfort zone, bet on myself, and jumped into the unknown space and felt the drop.

Fear came to get me so many times, trying every tactic. It felt like suffocation, like the world closing in on me, like being alone and forgotten. It was brutal. It worried my mum when I got back to England because, at times, I was sick with fear.

But I got good at letting go. I played let's-make-believe that everything is going to turn out better than I could imagine, no matter what happens. I told myself that any outcome was the best outcome. I had to get accustomed to the unknown.

And something glorious happened.

Grace moved into the space where fear had been. Joy moved in. Gratitude. And, most importantly, solutions to all the "problems" fear was presenting.

I started taking every so-called "problem" fear presented and turned it into a question. Then I imagined what it felt like on the other side, when the answer had arrived. I felt into the peaceful freedom.

This practice makes me feel better in the moment and creates the much-needed internal space for creative intelligence to guide me.  

Then a few weeks ago, sitting in the garden, I got clarity, and the answer to the next part of my journey was revealed.

So here I am learning to play and dance and laugh my way through this harebrained scheme of mine. Because I have my one beautiful life, and it only happens one beautiful day at a time. And that's all we really have: this one beautiful moment. 

My new mantra: Embrace the play, keep fear at bay.

I’m sharing this with you because my life is SCARY, and fear presents itself as an ally, but it’s really not your friend. Unless, of course, there’s a lion in your kitchen, in which case, RUN!

Thank you for walking with me.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Lizzie xxx