#thoughts4thoughts

[shawnna-downing]

🥁🥁🥁 . . . #thoughts4thoughts #showyourwork #writinginmarker #writingitout #newyear #whodis #fuckthehow #this #is #it #begin #start #splash #bestill #beyou #xoxox (at Toronto Pearson International Airport)

[fuckthehow]

Motivation

Chapter One. 

“If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse.” We all have to drag ourselves out of bed in the morning, whether you’re Bob Dylan or Matisse, Michael Jordan or Tony Hawk, Diana Ross or Salvador Dali. We all have the opportunity to wake up and get to work. There is no tangible difference between the heros we admire and ourselves, we’re all human. And yet we have an incredibly one sided perspective; we see them as moving in the world finished and complete. Doing and creating the things we dream of while we see ourselves as struggling and not yet where we would like to be. What we don’t see or consider is the process or the journey they took to get there; complete with failures, rejections and fears. We often find ourselves asking how did they do it? Or better yet, how can I? Motivation doesn’t come from a magical place, I’m not even sure it’s something you work at. It seems to be that motivation is both fact and fiction. It’s the story we tell ourselves, it’s the stories we tell to inspire each other. But it’s the story that comes after something has already happened. As for the how, the how is the process, it’s the waking up and dragging ourselves out of bed, anybody can do it. But there is something meaningful to be found in the why we do something. It’s what sets us apart. It’s something only you possess. It’s the desire you have or at the very least your willingness to do something. It’s your curiosity. And it’s the reason it doesn’t matter who you are. Anybody can be curious, but nobody is curious in the same way you are or sees the world the way you do. You are here, you are the reason, so now what? You probably won’t be able to change the whole world or at least you can’t change it all over night, but what’s one thing you would like to change or what’s one thing you would like to see?  It’s time we took a moment to reflect, ponder and wonder why we’re here and get specific; what does your personal version of the world look like? That’s where our motivation comes from. So often we don’t do anything because we’re afraid. We’re afraid of failure, of getting it wrong, we’re afraid that we’re not talented enough or not good enough. Even if we’ve gotten it right in the past, whatever it is - a design, a piece of music... - we’re afraid it won’t happen again. We are afraid of not only the failure but that we are phony. That we are fake and that in truth we don’t know what we are doing. The truth is that everyone feels this, on some level or in some way. No one has it figured out - no one knows what they’re doing. The success stories we hear, see or have even experienced ourselves, arose from not only pushing outside our comfort zone but also from the magic of synchronicity that happens when you show up. You start. Anything worthwhile is going to be difficult, we have to stop acting so surprised by effort and hard work and to not be embarrassed by it. Our self-worth, self-love and self-respect are not tied to getting it right or to getting it wrong. Participation and persistence is really all there is. You show up as you are, as you are today, as flawed as you are, you show up.

And if what’s holding us back is that we aren’t good enough then we must accept ourselves as flawed individuals and have some inner confidence in the process of improvement. You will get better if you start, and if you start you will begin to answer the question; “why am I here?” You may never fully discover the answer, but if you ask you will have the experience of a lifetime. We all wake up and then have to drag ourselves out of bed in the cold morning. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started. If you’re here, you’re ready and that’s enough.

[shawnna-downing]

It will not be easy, everything takes time. In time we come to see, we come to understand, we come trust without hesitance that; the crescent moon will become full. And that fullness is always worth the wait. . . . #thoughts4thoughts #writingonawhim #writingonanipad #patience #wehowlatthemoonforareason #chaos #creation #theuniverseisahandful #xoxox

[shawnna-downing]

chaos and creation. in madness lies sanity. “falling in love” - notice that we don’t say rising, we only see this idea of the fall. but there is a moment, between the fall and creation. all life is an act of faith, perhaps a gamble, living is an act of faith. life is full of madness. but what is really necessary for survival for there to be life is to let go, is to surrender. let things get out of control. splash, be still find that moment between; that’s you. you’re doing it, while not doing it. check one, are you beating your heart or is your heart beating? . . . #film #chaosandstillness#balance #caughtonfilm #thoughts4thoughts #writingonawhim #showyourwork #splash #bestill #beyou #surrender #rise #love #itshappening #xoxox

[shawnna-downing]

When we don’t know where life is taking us we can’t be lost 🗺 . . . #thoughts4thoughts #writinginpen #writingonawhim #itsokaytonotbeokay #discovery #xoxox

[shawnna-downing]

We could spend our whole lives waiting.. waiting for approval, until we’re “good enough”, the job, the partner, the dream, the house, the money, the vacation, the move - we could wait until we know who we are.. Or we could just start. We could start right now. With whatever we have, wherever we are. We could start, we don’t have to wait. Unless we want to, but let us come to understand, or to see, it’s a choice. It’s a choice to wait or to passively endure. But let’s honestly ask ourselves; what are we really waiting for? . . . #thoughts4thoughts #writingonawhim #writingincutouts #showyourwork #fuckthehow #writesomething #asksomething #splash #bestill #beyou #xoxox

[shawnna-downing]

✍️💭 . . . #thoughts4thoughts #writeitout #showyourwork #thankskurt #choice #thatsthething #yougotthis #wegotthis #fuckthehow #comeasyouare #splash #bestill #beyou #xoxox

[shawnna-downing]

Something's are incredibly broken and incredibly beautiful .. Don't focus so much on everything & everyone having a purpose that life loses all meaning. You are a child of the universe, just like the trees & the stars. They do not exist for you, they exist with you. Life is purposeless, and isn't it that very thing that makes you so filled with wonder? ☕️🎞 . . . #thoughts4thoughts #writingonawhim #showyourwork #purposelesschair #todayisthebestdayever #xoxox