Show up.

'When each woman shows up and does her brave thing, she actually wins a thousand other battles because she makes a thousand other women brave'. Anna Voskamp

Showing up and doing the brave thing is hard because it comes with a risk—the risk of being seen as imperfect. Of being exposed, and vulnerable—the two things that terrify me more than spiders! I love beauty, symmetry and perfection but over the past several months I’ve been learning to accept the beauty of imperfection—and its been a heart-stretching journey.

So often I’ll talk myself out of showing up, or sharing a design that’s ‘in progress’ because it’s not quite done, or not at the stage I envisioned it to be by now. But the truth is, before something can be beautiful, it has to be imperfect, in-progress, incomplete, not-quite-ready. Because nothing beautiful happens overnight, and I can’t think of a single time when I’ve been inspired by someone’s overnight success, or accomplishment that came without sweat and tears.

What has and continues to inspire me though are the stories of women who have the courage to show up imperfect, to be vulnerable and open about the mess, discouragements, failures and triumphs that accompany the pursuit of their dreams.

These are the women who win the thousands of battles, and inspire thousands of women like you and me to keep persevering at that thing that will eventually end up (and maybe already is in some tiny way) having a positive impact on our world.

So show up and do your brave thing. Whatever stage you’re at—whether you’re mustering the courage to take the first step or celebrating an important milestone—share your journey, there’s someone who needs to be inspired by exactly where you’re at right now!

S.K.