its okay to be frozen

dearest,

i've been staring at a blank page.

not because i have nothing to say. because i have everything to say. and it's all sitting right here, in my chest, and it won't come out.

maybe you know that feeling.

where you've done the work. you've read the books. you've sat in the silence. you've felt things shift inside you that you can't even explain to the people closest to you.

and now it's time to do something with it.

and you're frozen.

hm.

i want to tell you something.

every successful person you admire has stood in this exact spot. every single one. and every unsuccessful person has too. the difference was never talent. it was never readiness. it was never "having something important to say."

it was the leap.

but here's what i really want to say - and i'm saying this to myself as much as i'm saying it to you:

you have a voice.

even if you don't know what to say yet. even if it shakes. even if it comes out wrong. even if no one claps.

you have a voice.

and if you want to use it, if something in you is pulling you toward the page, the camera, the room, the conversation - you do that. you follow that pull. not because you're ready. because life is short. and you won't know what you learn until you jump.

so here's what i'm learning, right now, in real time: it's not about finding your voice. you already have it. it's about playing with it. getting comfortable with yourself. not the polished version. the real one. the one that's scared and doing it anyway.

starting anything new does exactly this. it freezes you. especially if you're a deep thinker. a deep feeler. you take everything personally - and that's not a flaw. that's the thing that makes your voice yours.

so be frozen. feel it. and then move anyway.

i'll be here.

playing too.

with love,
jane