Speaking of Scared
:: This post appears on the After Hours blog today.
Do one thing every day that scares you. - Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat & reformer (1884 – 1962)
It’s a quote I’ve been quick to recite but slow to practice. Except for last night when I stepped up to the microphone for the very first time and read some of my poetry aloud to a room of perfect strangers. Some of them fairly famous strangers.
I was sure I read too fast. I stood at the podium wishing I’d edited just a little bit more. I fumbled over a line. My palms were sweaty.
I felt utterly alive.
I sat down. Diane Tucker stood up. Her words flew. Lines: weighty, pressing, playful. Not one of them hitting the floor. It made me want to get up a hundred times more so I could read like her. One day.
When was the last time you chose to do something that scared you?
2 comments
Hi Christina,
I was there. Thank you for getting up and for your poetry. You did beautifully. You should definitely read more, and more often.
As to the scared part, I think when there is the right mix of scared and exhilarated, I know I am standing on the threshold of learning. The place of transformation. The place of feeling utterly alive.
I try to go there as often as I can. And I have never regretted it. I do not know if there is a recipe, perhaps we are our best barometers.
Hopefully, I will see you around again, become less of a stranger. :-).
come to the TWS reading series, next one is June 11th (http://www.thewritersstudio.ca/readings/). Another beautiful space to share our work with each other.
Daniela,
Thank you for your words, written here and shared at Spoken Ink.
“As to the scared part, I think when there is the right mix of scared and exhilarated, I know I am standing on the threshold of learning. The place of transformation. The place of feeling utterly alive.” I couldn’t agree more.
I would love to come out to the TWS reading series. I promise to introduce myself.
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