Leading with inspiration and consistency over expectations
As the clouds cover the mountain tops, technically, according to Google and the official sunrise time, the sun has risen over 30 minutes ago. Still, as the observer of time, the sun has not crested over the mountaintop. There is a cloud there, beckoning sunrays to glint through the sides of mountains as the promise of the rising sun is still behind the mountain and the clouds. Despite what human time has calculated, the sun is taking its time in my place in the world for its glorious rise.
The hummingbirds fly by me, and one loves to hang by my head in meditation. The thrumming and rapid sounds of the wings gave me a jolt of energy and joy unparalleled by any other kind of morning sound.
Nature moves at its pace without remorse, lamentation, or desire to prove anything to us. There are no hopes of having more followers, proving to an external source that it deserves you to purchase its purpose, and no focus on giving out a predictable timeline.
Cyclical, yes; dependable, sure – but on your timeline, never.
All my life, I’ve been enraptured by the cyclical movement of time stamped by the ink nature chooses. No matter where I have lived, it’s been vital to witness the sunrises, sunsets, natural phenomena, the opening of flowers, the bounty of life, the fallen leaves of trees, death, and rest.
I attribute this love and desire to the strict policy that my parents adhered to growing up – I had to walk to school every day, no matter the weather pattern, to and from school. Yes, I am that person who can say they walk to school in school uphill both ways (it really was like that).
It was a rare respite for my parents to give me a ride to school if the weather was crazy. Hell, my parents were so strict about it; they would prefer to have me be late to school and wait out the weather. I could get a late note and stay home from school for weather reasons, but they would NOT give me a ride.
After my parents divorced, they still kept this rule in place by ensuring I always woke up in the house closest to school so I could walk. I want to give a little shoutout to my high school friend Chris, who helped me defy my mother’s wishes when I was a senior in high school by picking me up most mornings about 5 minutes into my walk to school. I always think about you and send you the best of love.
Okay, quite honestly, I’m writing to share with you all the inspirational life I live and want you to live. As I wrote this, I had NO CLUE where this newsletter would go when I sat down.
I was inspired to let you know – LIVE YOUR LIFE how you want. Your timeline is the most important. So, what does this moment of walking to school do with timelines?
I learned in those 17 years of walking how to observe the cyclical nature of time. I may have had to be at school at an artificial time, but nature taught me the real lesson in time and time-bending. It taught me that 6:50 a.m. means nothing, but showing up day in and day out to walk the same path, watching sunrises, sunsets, and all-weather patterns, meant nature’s time is accurate.
I remember when the time would change and laugh at how humans think we’re so bright, but even with changing the time an hour ahead or back; it didn’t change when the sun rose. The sun changed on its timeline.
Therefore, YOU are part of this cyclical natural life. Step outside of the confines of what you’re supposed to do by this age, supposed to do by this time, and what you’re supposed to create for the world with followers and even with money.
Surrender to your inspirations and find consistency within.
Consistency is tough for me. I know this to be true because I try to get these newsletters out to you on Wednesdays.
Why? Because it’s Warrior Wednesday in my mind! I never shared that because I didn’t want your expectations to crush me into feeling guilty if I did it on a different day. But you know what happened. I did it to myself. I would wait a whole other week to send something out and then be discouraged and upset at myself so that I wouldn’t do it.
The next thing I knew, months passed, and I didn’t share.
Ultimately, this doesn’t matter, but my desire to write for you all is strong. So, it matters to me. It matters if I show up for the inspiration and deliver to the beckoning call of my nature. It matters that you do the same.
What else has hindered my growth in this writing? Let me share with you so you can move beyond your objections to whatever is holding you back from your passion.
- I barely write about herbs, and somehow, I’m an herbalist. Shouldn’t I be writing things to get you to purchase from me? To realize I am an herbalist who is here to help you?
- I got down on myself about not having a strategy or a call to action (something to get you to follow me or purchase).
- Who cares about what I have to write?
- What is even the purpose?
The list goes on and on.
However, since writing without judgment, writing my story, and sharing inspiration with you all, I’ve learned that you enjoy hearing these stories.
Of course, I’ve had many unsubscribes, and I’ll continue to, but on the flip side, I’ve had more of you respond to my emails.
I’ve had dialogues that nourish my soul. I have realized that I live an inspired life, and there can still be consistency within that inspiration.
Anyway, this is long again and I wanted to get into failure but next time we can go there.
What do you want me to share more of?
Let’s do those journal prompts because I’ve got some good questions for you this week.
Journal Prompts:
What are your main objections that are holding you back from living your dreams?
What feeling do you want to experience every day when you wake up?
What does failure look like to you?