Hi Love,
Do you ever have wobbles about your work? Times where you question the worthiness of what you're doing?
I had one of those moments this week, plagued by hormone-related self doubt, I wondered with everything going on in the world, of the many injustices and harm being caused, what place does the work I do have. And most importantly for me, what is it contributing.
In the main I'm actually quite grateful for these wobbles and I've learnt to lean into them as an opportunity. I ‘kind of’ enjoy the challenge to my thinking and see it as a chance to become reacquainted with the firey passion I have for my work.
Although, let's keep it real, all of this comes in the beauty of hindsight, right. When deep in my winter and experiencing all the things that come with that part of the menstrual cycle, it can render me hiding under the duvet a snotty, bloodshot and wailing mess.
But that chance to stoke-up the fire is necessary, cathartic and part of the course because whilst the fire is always there, it is unsustainable for it to be in full blaze all of the time.
And on the other side of the wobble is the chance to relight the fire in your belly and provide the fuel for the embers to continue shining throughout the following season .
I talk to my clients about keeping their ‘why’ close and the ways that this happens isn't always pretty and instagrammable but its important.
Especially when life feels all-encompassing and in the juggle of existing in the here-and-now of a pandemic its easy for the connection to our why to feel like dial-up internet…in and out of connectivity and hanging on a thread as we impatiently wait for it to once again start doing its thing.
It just so happened that on the day of my wobble the clients I was seeing, topics I was helping them work through and the subsequent feedback I received, confirmed and affirmed in full-effect the contribution of my work and the place it has.
Helping those who have traditionally gone unheard to find, use and amplify their voice is at the very core.
Those big-hearted creatives (the deep thinkers and feelers) who have edited, filtered and assimilated their way out of who they are in order to fit into what the status quo has forced upon them.
For the black women and those from marginalised communities who have had to change their voice in order to survive and as a gateway to thriving through to the woman deemed too sensitive, to the woman who had to shape-shift herself to keep her space in the corporate boardroom and the intersections of it all.
Those that have silenced their truth because speaking up was not encouraged, accepted or allowed.
And the why behind that is because these big-hearted creatives are sitting on a whole lot of amazingness and just what the world needs.
Within those voices are a more liberated thinking in alternatives, different ways of doing things, from the inside-out ideas, more human-to-human, genuine, values led approaches.
As a collective we have the ideas, theories, practices, products and offerings that will help to change the world.
Raising these voices, your voices is a challenge to traditional power dynamics in ALL kinds of ways and in ALL kinds of industries.
A challenge to the status quo and the single story.
And therein lies another why behind the why.
By finding, using and amplifying your voice you are telling your story.
Through your meaningful work, through your presence and the sharing of that work (and yep that includes marketing ; ) ).
And this is important for so many reasons and in so many ways and one of them is ‘the danger of a single story’.
Without your voice, we fall further into the ‘single story’, as so wonderfully expressed by Chimamanda Ngoazi Adichie in my most favourite Ted Talk ever.
A single story is what the status quo fights for.
A single story is what has been presented for so long.
A single story prevails when the unheard continue to go unheard.
And finding, using and amplifying your voice is the middle finger to that.
Please know, I'm not sitting here saying its always easy, its a journey. There is no time limit, the growth is continuous and each juncture opens us up to more levels and greater depth.
But, my goodness its worth it.
And so back to the wobbles.
We don't see or hear much about them on these internet streets as everyone makes out like they never have those kinds of struggles (which could be a whole other newsletter in itself!).
This is not an attempt to paint over the reality of how a wobble feels with a hefty layer of positivity but what it is, is the story of one of my wobbles being shared to let you know they are part of the course and with the intention to plant seeds of ideas of what you can start to do with yours and how you might start to think of them differently.
A wobble is not a reason to quit, it's something that can fuel the fire.
And in case you need it, this is a rallying cry, a gentle nudge and welcoming hug into using your voice is a bigger way, into the messy side of exploring your why behind the why and to ultimately sharing your story with more of your light.
I love hearing about what people are currently consuming and creating, here's mine…
Currently reading: The Rise by Sarah Lewis
Currently listening to: Simon Sinek on Brene Brown's Dare To Lead Podcast
Currently creating: Expectations in line with the season I am in and a podcast workshop ; )
Sending love,
