What do you have to lose?

I’m still buzzing from my book signing earlier this month. Eight years in the making, it was an occasion worthy of celebrating. It was a birth - the birth of a book and the birth of its author. A grand transition from inner to outer worlds. (See my book page to order)

A twinge in my throat
In my presentation, I shared how the story began as a twinge in my throat. When I got still enough, I could feel it. When I got quiet enough, I could hear it. It was the nudge of my inner voice wanting to speak. The voice of my story wanting to be told. Through the encouragement of a trusted supporter, I took pen to page and started writing.

In seed form
My story is about a lost pregnancy. As I wrote, I began to see that while the physical part of pregnancy was lost for me, there was an energy that remained: an energy held in trust, like a seed. A seed filled with love, hope, and potential. A seed that didn’t sprout in the garden I thought it would, but a seed nonetheless. Seeds are full of possibility. Seeds are a creative force. And we get to choose where we plant them. I eventually came to realize the seed held the wish, desire, and dream to create. As I looked at the fallout from my loss, a declaration I made as a nine-year old was still there, burning in my ears:

When I grow up, I want to be a writer. I want to write stories about my life.

A potent position
Loss put that declaration in a whole new perspective. This is when I discovered a side benefit of having my heart cracked open: courage. I began to ask myself, what do I have to lose?

That’s a potent position to be in, as it turns out. There’s a special determination that arises when all appears to be lost. If we don’t give in to the temptation of victimhood, we can use this energy as medicine. We can bottle it up by creating something, by taking action – no matter how small – to make meaning out of that pain.

And here’s the coolest part of all:

Our medicine becomes medicine for others. Our healing becomes healing for others. How amazing is that?

What about YOU?
What are you gestating these days? As creative beings (which we ALL are), something is always calling to be expressed through us.

What do YOU have to lose?

Who is your trusted supporter?