Hey! Listen!

A couple of years ago I shared about how this art journey began for me; how it started with a yearning that I just couldn't suppress any longer. I've come a long way since that time and had a lot of challenging/growing experiences. Most of the time I have felt "led by the Spirit" in the same way I felt led to classes and mentors at the start. That's not to say it's always been easy...au contraire: there have been many bumps and bruises along the way, not a few humiliations, several duds, and long, slow learning curves. 

​I would like to share an excerpt from an e-newsletter I got a few months ago:

I'd like to encourage you to listen to your ideas, listen to your heart, and follow your passion. Yes, it's frightening. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it may take months or years. Yet if you don't follow your passion, you'll always regret it. No matter what the obstacles, you will find a way to get around them because your passion to change the world in your way will drive you  Conditions will never be perfect. People will always tell you why your ideas won't work. Don't wait. Go for it anyway. I've launched many ideas that people said wouldn't work. Some failed, but some succeeded. 
If you fail at first, don't give up. Keep finding a way. Keep failing. Just like painting, you have to do a lot of bad paintings before you can do good ones. Failure is growth. So if you're asking yourself "What if I fail?" just know that if you don't fail, you don't grow.  (coffeewitheric.com)

There was another time in my life when I had to listen to my heart and follow my passion or live with the regret...when my husband and I decided to pursue adopting our third child. Even though we were not in our 30's anymore. Even though we needed to jump through all the international adoption paperwork. Even though it was going to take time, be expensive. What I asked myself then was "when I'm 50 will I wish we had taken the leap?" The answer was immediate...take the leap! And when I was 50 (a few minutes ago) our daughter was an amazing 10 year old, so beautiful and strong. Absolutely no regrets for following my heart!

Isn't it true that we really never stop growing? There is always so many things to learn...or unlearn. Some things are right in front of us and some things are hidden and waiting for us to seek and find. And, maybe, those are those most precious of all.