In my work with Global Women, I have encountered first hand what women in other parts of the world have to do to feed their families and to sustain the basics of life. What I’ve seen in the places I’ve traveled though is not just material need, which is great, but also spiritual need. A need to connect our story with our Creator’s story. A need to express our unique personhood. A need to leave a mark, no matter how small. It’s the same need I have to tell my story and I suspect, it’s the same need you have to tell yours.
So if we are all yearning to tell our stories, how do we get to it?
I think it starts with grace.
Grace to show up everyday and do the creative thing, whatever your thing is. This seems so easy but is actually a feat of scheduling prowess for most people. I started with 20 minutes a day almost four years ago. This grace is a big deal. Don’t deny yourself this gift.
The other side of grace is to allow yourself the space to skip a day (or five) and come back anyway. I had emergency gall bladder surgery on September 11 this year. I didn’t make anything that day. And the next week after surgery my work was meager, at best. Life happens. When it derails your creative work get back to it as soon as you can guilt free.
Give yourself some grace to make mistakes. I struggle with this. I am an overachiever. I want to do it right the first time, every time. It’s frankly not good for me because mistakes can be so good and freeing on so many levels. Mistakes are where the growth happens. Mistakes are where we learn.
Thinking about those mistakes leads me right into grit. We need sustained effort over time toward our goal even when we make the inevitable mistakes. I’m learning to not be afraid to lean into that, as scary as it is.
Angela Lee Duckworth has an interesting TED talk about Grit and it’s where I first learned the term.
(She references Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset at the end of her talk and you can find Dweck’s TED talk here.)
So, Grace and Grit. I keep turning those two things around and around in my mind. How am I persevering in the face of obstacles? How am I leaving my mark?
Let me know what you think. Are you full of grace and grit today?
