We launched this blog last May, shortly before a three-state drive to attend a Colorado writing retreat.
Nine months later, I’m birthing something new. It’s a merger of sorts, combining what I learned last spring with what I know this winter. Call it a RoadBroad’s 2019 approach to living and writing.
It comes courtesy of my writing friend, Danielle, who shared a version of this “Comfort Zone” graphic on Facebook. The image grabbed my attention so fast, my neck nearly snapped. My mind thought aha!, and off to the Internet rabbit hole I vanished where I found the same image, topped with the creativity quote:
It’s so timely, post-New Year (either 1/1 or 2/5). There’s 45 weeks left in 2019.
Take a look at the graphic. Where do see yourself here as a woman? As a writer?
Some days, I stretch across all four zones.
Today, I stretch across Learning and Growth. It’s blog post day.
Tomorrow, I’ll perch in Fear, courtesy of an upcoming public speaking event.
Who knows what Wednesday and Thursday will bring? I suspect Comfort Zone therapy after Tuesday. But by Thursday, Learning and Growth returns, incorporating the week so far.
Learning and Growth involves an awakening, a choice we must make consciously. Comfort Zone and Fear tend to rule by our default.
My goal is to shrink the red circle of Comfort Zone into a smaller dot. It’s home to daily human recovery needs, so elements of it are vital. Healthy eating. Daily exercise. Adequate sleep. Spiritual practice.
Before we are women or writers, we are human beings. Superwoman and her twin, Wonder Woman, checked out of this universe decades ago.
Fear is too much my friend. So that’s why she resides in the orange zone? Moving forward, I’ll honor Fear while keeping a healthy dose married to boundaries and deadlines.
Finally, I focus on where my heart and energy landed when I saw this graphic. Enlarge the yellows and greens of Learning and Growth into ever-widening zones. Purpose-filled days. Achieved dreams. Goals enlarged. Objectives accomplished.
Daily, I’ll massage Dan Stevens’ words: creativity comes from activating intuition, expanding perspectives, and living fearlessly.
What’s your Zone Plan?
Maybe the graphic offers not your life, but a simple story.
Heroine’s Journey, anyone?