I'm in Austin for the Neurodiversion 2025 summit this weekend!
So I've asked my colleague Ryn Kingsley, trauma-informed coach and author of The Creative Courage Project newsletter, to guest write today's newsletter.
And I welcome you to share your voice - especially when it's scary.
Their heart hammers as their finger hovers over “send.” They scrunch their feet in the carpet, look around to confirm there is no tiger about to leap from behind their desk, breathe. They hit send. Check their pulse. Confirm they have not died.
Jessica encourages us to share our spiky points of view. And that can feel dangerous.
As a fellow reader of Jessica’s newsletter, I suspect you’re here because you have important work to make and share, and you know it’s not a matter of finding the right template or the perfect sequence of words. So let’s go below the surface…
In my work of helping people be louder about their better ideas of how to human together—even when it’s scary—I’ve noticed there are three essential skills to allowing space for your creative, spiky point of view to emerge, and to allowing yourself to share it.
Welcoming
Whether you’re struggling to sit down and write or struggling to do marketing or outreach, this is the first place I’d check in. There’s a wise, brilliant part of you that knows you have something important to share. And you want to share, you really do!
And if you’re stuck, there’s probably another part of you that thinks this “sharing your voice” business is a terrible idea. Maybe they’re tired, or afraid of making a mistake in public, or worried about money. Maybe they know you’ve put your heart and soul into this and they don’t want to be rejected.
Instead of pushing past the fear, I’m inviting you to welcome the fearful part(s). Maybe invite them for a cup of tea. You might find it helpful to imagine them as another entity sitting next to you.
What do they need to see, hear, or know to feel safe enough with you sharing your spiky point of view?
Questioning
Okay, so you’ve welcomed all your parts, and one of them is just not on board with the plan. Let’s bring what I call extreme curiosity to the mix.
First, there’s a difference between stretching yourself to grow and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone so far that you have to hide under the covers for three months. Can you discern where this next action might fall?
If it’s closer to the former: how can you support yourself in taking the tiniest action?
If it’s more likely the latter, here are two questions to start with:
- Why do you want to do this? Said another way, what are you hoping this strategy or action will achieve in your business (or life)?
- What are other possible ways to move toward that same goal? Give yourself permission to think way outside the box here. I call it letting your inner Artist lead.
There’s a lot of Best Practice Advice, and maybe it’s not a best practice for you and your nervous system. (And if you’re worried you might look foolish, I wrote this for you.)
Honoring
This is challenging work. And many of us don’t pause to acknowledge and celebrate ourselves when we do challenging things. Maybe you’ve had a coach ask: “how are you celebrating?” and felt a bit lost.
Honoring and celebrating yourself for doing the scary thing can be as simple as saying: “I’m proud of myself for doing this even though it was really hard for me.” Take a breath and allow the words to sink in.
I know this isn’t easy work I’m inviting you to do. It’s easier to take (or at least buy) another marketing, messaging, or copywriting course. And if you’ve done that and you’re still stuck, as Jessica would say, it’s time to go deeper.
Because your voice isn’t something you find, it’s something you use.
If you found this helpful, you might like The Creative Courage Project newsletter. I’m currently sharing a series with the theme Bother Us With Your Brilliance.
If you have “too out there” ideas or status quo-disrupting art you’re slow or shy to share, I’d love it if you joined. Read past issues here or subscribe here.