My First Creative at Heart
I have been wanting to attend Creative at Heart for a long time. Many of my friends and industry peers have attended in the past, coming back from the conference renewed and pumped about their businesses. I have attended my share of photography related courses, workshops, and mentorships and my heart was craving a little something outside the world of cameras and more in the world of creative small businesses. What I didn’t expect was to go and have to deal with some heart issues.
Creatives its a Heart Issue
Now, I could go on and on about how awesome the speakers and the break out sessions were but I am not . . because you already know that the content was great. The speakers were phenomenal and over the next month I will be diving deep into some of the incredible things these people taught me but today . . today I want to talk about the heart, my heart.
The heart can be this ugly, emotional pilot that can really guide you down the path to crazy town if it isn’t tempered with a bit of wisdom from the brain. It tells you things like “I am not good enough” or “I can’t do _____ as well as she can” or better yet “I am a fraud”. Here is the thing . . we are so concerned with “I” that we forget about the big W. No, I am not talking about the “Why Statement”. I am talking about WHOM we are serving (more on this later). We forget because sweet creatives we replace creative at heart with competitive at heart.
My Heart Lesson
I am competitive by nature. I own it and sometimes . . I forget to check it and it’s other ugly twin joins in the game, hello Comparison.
I walked into Creative at Heart and being tired from a move . . I let those “I statements” start rolling in my head. They clouded everything. Monday morning I walked into my seat a little nervous because of this. There on the table in front of me was a little notebook asking us “How Brave are You Willing to Be?” and it was the starting point for my biggest take away that I want to share with you now.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON HEARS THOSE I STATEMENTS
From the people who you think are kicking butt and taking names, down to the gal who just decided she wants to open a small business and is just building her website. We ALL hear those statements in our hearts and then tell ourselves a lie that those other people don’t.
The Corner Seat
I sat on the corner seat of a vintage couch, clutching a La Croix and really wishing it was a glass of Merlot, chatting with someone who I have always associated with brave authenticity . . only to hear her say, she felt like a fraud . . . and I thought . . “ME TO . . but I am not brave enough to say that. . . to admit that . . to own that.
I had a long car ride home to mull over the conference and replay what I learned in my head. How brave was I willing to be, not only here but in my wedding business? Over the remainder of this year, your going to see some changes. Changes that reflect the lessons learned on that corner couch and throughout the whole conference and friend, I can’t wait to share them with you!
Today I Choose . . .
Today I choose to be brave enough to admit that sometimes, I don’t feel good enough, but as I type this (really wanting to hit DELETE) I am reminded of Whose I am and whom I serve and that eternally that is the heart statement that needs to be running in my head. How brave will you be?
All photos by the lovely Holly Felts Photography
