I’m a girl with bruises on my legs at almost all times. I’m clumsy and I never really got the hang of being graceful [even after all that ballet]. All this isn’t to say that I don’t try to lead my life with grace and intention. […]

This seems like as good a time as any to admit that I’m nervous, a little overwhelmed but simultaneously humbled and urgently excited. I guess I’m really happy to be living my life, doing what I need to and really pursuing a huge dream. I want to use the phrase “living the dream” to describe my life and be shocked that I mean it 100% of the time. You can only surprise yourself when you want it bad enough, and boy do I want this. I can barely believe I’m holding it together so well, but I’m proud and I know I can do it because I believe I can. This isn’t some utopian dream either, this is something I’ve been working toward for most of my adult life and I can almost see it now. Now is the time, this is the season and I’m finally ready.

Don’t give up on what you love. Do what you want and LIVE YOUR LIFE.

<3 Liss.

(Source: icatchfoxes)

NO IT ISN’T.

But we cannot let fear dictate our decisions and allow ourselves to become completely insulated.

(Source: icatchfoxes)

People like to be demeaning. People like to make you feel small and inadequate. It’s easy. Think about it: flaws are easier for us as a society to discuss than assets. We have a broader vocabulary in the negative realm than the positive. Even the words we do maintain in the positive realm get twisted and turned into ironic-use-only vocab. Sarcasm has gotten the best of conversational English, and while often hilarious - it makes it difficult to compliment someone for their skills without sounding like a fan-girl or worse: like an insincere prick. The best news: if you know this is just how things roll, it’s actually easier to navigate the world of job-hunting, networking and avoid the all too common mid-twenties/early-thirties all-encompassing personal/professional breakdown. Okay, maybe it can’t help you avoid breakdown, but it can certainly make you realize it doesn’t have to be the end and you will survive to see better days. 

The thing about these other people, these nay-sayers, they are not me. They are not you. This is an obvious statement. The real focus is: don’t take advice you don’t believe. Sure, there are experts out there who want you to listen to their every word. This doesn’t make any sense though. How can you follow the lead of something (or someone) you don’t believe in? If you want something bad enough and use that desire to work hard toward your goal, I really believe there’s no reason you won’t succeed in one way or another. This doesn’t mean you won’t get discouraged by the dismissive comments of others or your own negative thinking. Being your own motivator is probably the best place you can be in this scenario.

That being said, I’ve found that when someone tells me (or even remotely implies) that I cannot do something, I gain relentless drive to accomplish this thing that someone else has deemed impossible (sometimes regardless of my interest in the activity). As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to use this to my advantage. Less and less often do I find myself doing something merely because someone else unknowingly double-dog dared me to do it by saying I wouldn’t be able to successfully complete something. However, that’s where my problem still lies. I must learn to better say “no” both to myself in situations where I feel like I must rise to the challenge, and to others when I really just don’t have enough time to commit myself to another project.

Momentum. Yeah, it’s a buzzword. Whatever. I have a hard time with maintaining a steady workflow when I get to entrenched in a specific aspect of a project or idea. I get frustrated and somehow find comfort in that feeling. I get stuck when I’m doing too many projects for friends and family, when I’m not taking enough time to just sit and read, or when I just get too caught up in getting everything done right now. That’s why I have a 5 year plan, not a 5 minute plan. I’ve got to get to a point where I can get out of my own way.

Patience. I need more. My whole life I’ve gone through cycles of patience followed by fits of urgency. These cycles can generally be seen by examining the length of my hair in photographs from any given time in my life. I had very long hair until I was about to begin 2nd grade. I’m fairly certain this is the point in my life where the prove-them-wrong attitude began. We got my hair cut to just above my jawline, a nice little bob. Life was so much easier. It no longer took an hour to wash my hair. I had so much more time for all the business I had to attend to as a 7-year-old: organizing my cassette collection & re-naming my fish based on my favorite book at the moment.

The point of this “hair as metaphor for patience” story is that my hair is currently the longest it’s been since I graduated high school over 6 years ago. I keep contemplating cutting it off. That’s a signal that I’m almost ready for a manic/urgent stage. Terrifying. I don’t want to be in that state of mind. It’s stressful. I like having long hair, but it really does take a lot of time. What could I be doing in that additional half-hour a day? Maybe that’s the half-hour I would spend belittling others, and maybe it’s best I keep myself occupied during that time. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. That’s why (at least for today) I’m keeping my long hair.

(Source: icatchfoxes)