She came to rest. She left with something else.
When my client, who I’ll call Kate, came to my retreat last January, she thought she needed time and space to rest.
She was exhausted. She imagined she'd spend the days focusing on self-care and diving back into art journaling, something she’d been passionate about years before, but hadn’t made the time for in a long while.
She knew she was holding on to things that weighed her down. But mostly she just felt exhausted by life in general. A few days into the retreat she told me, "I really wasn't sure what I needed to release."
What she didn't expect was what would happen when she truly showed up for herself.
As we painted, journaled, reflected, and shared our stories, something began to shift.
She described it this way: "It was like a boulder had been moved from my path."
Kate went home being present for herself in a whole new way. And over the next six months, she began making choices she never imagined she would make.
She found a therapist.
She invested in monthly coaching sessions with me.
She and her husband began couples counseling.
She bought a bike.
She rented an art studio.
She left the job that no longer fit.
One decision after another, each one a quiet declaration: This life matters. I matter.
Stories like Kate’s are why I created the Create Brave Collective.
Because courage rarely arrives all at once. It grows in small, brave choices, witnessed by people who believe in you – as you begin believing in yourself, too.
I want you to picture Kate, riding her bike to her studio, walking through the door, tossing her backpack and helmet on the sofa, putting on her paint-splattered apron, filling the tea kettle, pouring herself a cup of tea, and sitting down to breathe, stare out the window and contemplate her next brave move.
And then I want you to picture yourself.
What’s your next brave move?
Maybe it’s writing the email you’ve been avoiding. Booking the flight you’ve been dreaming about. Getting out your art journal and paints and starting a new page.
What boulder are you ready to move?
