Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
This week, I've been sharing the above quote with my yoga and barre classes.
This quote comes from Steven Pressfield in The War of Art, a book that inspired me to start my business, Barre & Soul®. I'm sharing it with you all this week in the hopes that it inspires you too.
When I decided to start Barre & Soul®, I did feel fear. I am grateful someone asked me this question:
Which is worse: the fear of doing it, or the fear of not doing it?
Immediately, I knew. It was on.
This has served me well each time I get ready to take a new risk. When I laid eyes on the space for the new studio in Harvard Square (which is currently under construction,) I was overwhelmed by the fear of NOT creating a studio there, which is how I knew it had to be done.
andrea construction selfie
Even though construction is stressful (is 'predictably unpredictable' an oxymoron? Because it describes life pretty perfectly at the moment...) and I have no way of knowing yet whether this studio will be a success, or whether it'll just turn out to be the most expensive mistake of my life, I couldn't NOT find out.
After all, what's the worst that could happen? (Answer: zombie apocalypse, obviously. And totally unrelated to the success or failure of my business.)
Ask yourself which is greater: the fear of doing it or the fear of not doing it.
Here's to feeling the fear, and doing it anyway.
Love, Andrea
They Called Her 'Ugly.' We Can All Learn Something From Her Response.
When this 'before' and 'after' photo of Stephanie Lange showed up in my Instagram feed, I remember thinking, "How cool is that -- a REAL-looking 'before' photo!"
I loved it immediately, and was not the least bit surprised. It seemed consistent with this makeup artist's friendly, open, and down-to-earth persona.
I had begun following her after stumbling across her YouTube channel, which is full of great makeup tutorials. I loved the content of her videos, but what made them really great was her personality; she seemed to have a vulnerable, unguarded way of being.
Unfortunately, sometimes people just act like total A-Holes.
As it turns out, this photo was met with quite a few abusive comments on Instagram. It seems that having the veil pulled back on the carefully constructed images of beauty we are so used to seeing was threatening for many viewers, who bombarded her with nasty comments in reference to her 'before' image.
Shortly afterward, she posted the following message on her YouTube Channel, along with a video response:
I wanted to address this notion that people are 'ugly' without their makeup. As i said in the video, i get a lot of comments on photos that i post on my Instagram (@stephanielangemakeup) such as:
'This is Why Men Have Trust Issues' 'This is Why You Should Always Take a Girl To The Beach on a First Date' 'OMFG!!!' 'EEEWWWW!!!' 'She's So Ugly Without Makeup!!'
.... and that i basically paint a new face on and 'trick' people into thinking i'm pretty - when i'm not.
This frustrates me, as I don't want anyone to feel ashamed or embarrassed of their bare, makeup-free face. It's comments like these that make girls AND boys who wear makeup, feel ugly when they're not wearing it.
-Stephanie Lange
Here's what I love about her video:
- She stands her ground not just on her own behalf, but on behalf of people everywhere who'd rather not be shamed for SIMPLY SHOWING THEIR FACE. Standing up for yourself and others takes Boldness.
- She stays positive, never stooping to their level or being nasty in return. Taking the high road takes Integrity.
- She ACTUALLY TRIES TO EDUCATE PEOPLE about why their comments were harmful. Teaching someone instead of telling them to f*ck off takes Compassion.
Boldness, Integrity, Compassion... In my opinion, this may just be the formula for sustainable feminism -- a strong, assertive, kind approach that is inclusive rather than alienating, even when others' behavior is SO damn frustrating. It is important to remember that even when people ACT horrible, it doesn't mean they ARE horrible. Let's not give up on changing the world! Just my two cents.
You can watch the full "rant" post below, and I HIGHLY recommend watching it because SHE IS AMAZING.
No, I will not edit my 'before' photo like I know a lot of other people do, because I don't care about making an illusion of what I do or don't look like without makeup -- that's just my face.
-Stephanie Lange
Question! Are you comfortable being photographed without makeup?
I must admit, I'm not! Since I don't like to be scared of anything, here's a photo of me having a fantastic breakout. Hey, that's just my face.
Ridiculously Easy Thai Chicken Salad
This meal is not perfect. For example, I could have made the dressing from scratch, omitting all sugar. I could have used organic chicken, pre-cooked during some meal-prepping extravaganza earlier in the week. I could have used vegetables grown lovingly by me and my children in our very own permaculture garden. You get the idea.
It's not perfect. It is, however, ridiculously easy, and in my opinion, healthy.
Right now, for me, great or even good work just fine. Perfect isn't necessary. Here's a well-written blog post about that.
I've found, as a busy mom and business owner, my good intentions in the kitchen don't always pan out, and I've tossed one too many ingredients in the trash that I thought I'd get around to cooking, and never did.
Give me simplicity!
I want a nice, easy, healthy meal, and I know that if I don't shop for and keep easy-to-use ingredients on hand, I will cave and end up ordering take-out, or eating something not so good for me.
The only work involved here is washing and cutting up a cucumber. That's it. All of the other ingredients are pre-washed, pre-cooked or pre-packaged in some way.
Ridiculously Easy Thai Chicken Salad
- Salad greens (I like to use organic spring mix)
- Shredded cabbage (just buy the bagged stuff, organic if possible)
- Cucumber (washing and chopping this is the only work involved in this recipe)
- Trader Joe's grilled chicken strips (they're not organic, but they're a quick, easy source of lean protein and they taste pretty good.)
- Pre-cooked quinoa (I just bought a bag from the frozen section at Whole Foods and left in the fridge to thaw.)
- Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette. OMG, THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!! THAT'S RIGHT, I'M SHOUTING ABOUT IT!!
- I added a few cashews, but this may be overkill since there's already peanut dressing.
That's it!
Seriously, YOU NEED THIS DRESSING:
spicy peanut dressing
thai chicken salad
That's all folks. If you give it a try, or if you come up with any interesting variations, leave a comment and let me know!
