This week, I wrote an Instagram post that sort of went viral. It was shared over 30 times and had the highest engagement of anything I've posted since I created my account in January. (I also published it on the blog here.)
I'm GOBSMACKED by how many people resonated with it and shared their thoughts in both comments and DM's. It means the world to me that the post gave comfort, hope, and inspiration to so many.⠀ ⠀ You wanna know what's funny, though?⠀ ⠀ I actually didn't think the post was that great. 🤷♂️⠀ ⠀ Something inside me felt drawn to share that particular message, but when I finished the caption, I honestly thought at best, it was little diddy that people would read it and think, "Oh, that's nice", and scroll right past after a courtesy "like". ⠀ I didn't think it was anywhere near my best work. I thought I could have been more articulate and tighter. I wanted to edit it 20 times after I posted it.⠀ ⠀
But something inside me said, "Post it anyway."⠀ ⠀ Well, obviously I had no freaking clue how many people needed to hear that message!⠀ ⠀ And that's my point.⠀ ⠀ We really never know.⠀ ⠀ We really have no idea how something will land, or how people will react, or what impact something will have.⠀ ⠀ But boy, we sure think we do, don't we?! How often do we let stories like, "What will people think?", "What if it's not good enough?", "What if no one likes it?", and "OMG I can't put that out there yet- it's not perfect!" talk us out of showing up and creating in the world?⠀
I could tell you about countless articles, products, and opportunities that never saw the light of day because my noisy thinking really sounded like a fortune-teller of future outcomes. ⠀ But remember: we really. don't. know.⠀ ⠀ I sure as hell didn't this week! And when I look back at my life, I can see many other times that my worst fears never came to pass and things often ended up going better than I could have imagined they would. And even when they didn't go how I hoped, I felt bad for a bit but still came out the other end and survived to live another day every time. ⠀ So in my experience, there's one really reliable way to move forward:⠀ ⠀ Show up. Create. Put stuff out there.⠀ ⠀ If you feel drawn to create or share something, do it! All that other, "what if?" stuff? Noise. Sometimes you'll get the desired result and sometimes not. But that's normal and okay, and you'll learn valuable information for the next time out. And like with my Instagram post, it's pretty cool to know that when we come from a space of genuine desire to create and share in the world, what we put out will make an impact even if it's not our "perfect" work. ⠀
So one more time, for the people in the back:
You really don't know. So please don't hide something from the world that you feel drawn to share because of a guess.⠀ ⠀ We need what you only you can share, my friends! So show up and shine! 🌟⠀ ⠀ You're not nothing to lose. Promise. And remember: you NEVER need to be perfect in order to be enough. ❤️
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