Gripping Fear or Just Write....

Tish Grier, who I've hung out with a few times over the years (SXSW, BlogHer, blogging events), wrote a piece on Huffington Post about fearlessless ..... is it just foolishness?

Arianna Huffington speaks a lot about fearlessness...and how stepping into your strength and overcoming your fears are what was key to her success. Every woman on the panel talked about overcoming obstacles and fears at BlogHer this past August.

Last night, as I'm doing my usual multitasking thing of watching television while thumbing through yesterday's New York Times Magazine, and contemplating tomorrow's blog entries, the back of my mind started ruminating on Kierkegaard's "leap of faith" concept.

She talks about what lies behind the leap of faith. "Many of us come to a big leap because we can no longer live as hedonists chasing dreams nor as paragons of social order upholding the status quo. Both states of being cause us far more anxiety than necessary. We know there is more, and we must go there, regardless of what others think. We embrace the paradoxical--believing not because we're doing the right and proper thing but because we are obeying a deeper truth about the purpose of our lives. Essentially, we decide to pursue a higher purpose.

The leap, then, comes from a radical understanding of one's self-truth, of how that self-truth is more important than overindulgence or hyper-responsibility, and how that truth relates to something greater than ourselves."

And on fear -- and on success in writing life, something many of us can resonate with, she closes by saying, "when the fear grips me, I hear myself think: have I taken the too-long leap? Is my fearlessness actually just a bunch of foolishness? Most of the time, fearless me can answer "I doubt it." Success in the writing life, I know, is a slow thing, even for people with lots of past experience. So, I don't judge, nor do I justify. I just write."

Ah yes, just write. It's a beautiful thing. If you write because you love to do so and don't really have an outcome, more doors tend to open than not. (if not for your wallet, then most certainly for your heart).