Fearless - (adj.) free from fear
Wow, three days without a post at Forward — where did we all go?? Well, it’s summer and everyone has a lot going on, and I was personally lucky enough to spend the past weekend in San Jose, Calif., at the BlogHer conference. (Despite internet issues, I had a GREAT time and got to hang out with some really wonderful people.)
I won’t go into all the conference happenings, but I did have one little tidbit that struck a chord with me that I wanted to share with everyone. The closing keynote for the conference featured a panel of “four powerhouse women: Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief founder and professional blogger Grace Davis, Huffington Post founder and author Arianna Huffington, WashingtonPost.com/Newsweek Interactive CEO and Publisher Caroline Little and SixApart founder and President Mena Trott.” (I suggest following the links and familiarizing yourself with these diverse and amazing women, if you haven’t already.)
I found the entire keynote to be fascinating, but was particularly inspired by the discussion toward the end. I can’t remember how it took this path, but the women ended up talking about fear and fearlessness.
Fear is something that everyone has to deal with. I think it’s especially relevant to a lot of our readers because so many of us are at that time when we’re on the verge or in the early stages of our careers — it’s HUGE! Lots of big life changes. Lots of decisions. But as Arianna pointed out, “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It’s about not letting fear stop us.”
In preparing this post, I looked up “fearless” in the dictionary and the definition is interesting. It doesn’t say “absence of fear,” as I anticipated it would. It says “free from fear” — which poignantly illustrates Arianna’s point. The fear is there. It’s healthy. It’s normal. But you can decide if you’re going to let fear hold you back from pursuing your goals and dreams … or you can choose to be free from that fear, maybe even use it to push yourself forward.
My fears? Launching Forward this past spring (and it’s still pretty scary at times, even now!); graduating college; moving to DC by myself — these things absolutely terrify me. If I stop and think about it.
But the important thing — and an interesting question that was posed to the panel — is to look back and think if there is anything that you let fear stop you from doing. And if faced with such a challenge again, would you shy away? Or face it head-on?
In a lot of cases, you have that choice. “There are always two choices, two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy.” (- unknown)
Erin,
So glad you got to spend time in San Jose at the BlogHer conference! I really enjoyed this post. To answer your question- the only thing I have let fear stop me from doing is taking on too much at one time, or pursuing something extracurricular that sounds interesting, but really isn’t a passion of mine. While I have been faced with a number of challenges, and while difficult at the time, I would not shy away from them again. Each challenge has taught me a lot about myself and my capabilities. Life is a learning experience, you have to take risks and be fearless to really discover yourself and your passions.
Comment by Jessica Laiti — August 1, 2006 @ 8:27 am
Having faced a lot of situations in my career that turned my stomach to jelly. It is about pushing through the fear and leaving it behind. Often people look at fear as a wall when in reality is is a curtain - pushing through it, no matter how scary, is one of the most important things I ever learned as a young practioner. Do I still have fear? Yes, but having pushed through it, I recognize the feeling and can dissasociate from it while I press on.
Comment by Kami Huyse — August 1, 2006 @ 10:39 am
Very true that challenges teach us a lot about ourselves.
And Kami - I agree that it becomes a little easier to push through that fear with time and experience. I’ve certainly already found that to be true. Things that were terrifying and seemed impossible at the time that I pushed through and endured don’t seem so scary looking back on them - which has taught me that the fear and uncertainty is only temporary and the outcomes are well worth it.
Comment by Erin Caldwell — August 1, 2006 @ 12:59 pm
Erin - arrrgh, you were at BlogHer! I didn’t know you were going, I would have loved to meet you had I known, because I read Forward every day. I also enjoyed the last keynote and the talk about fearlessness, it was a great topic because it really applies to everyone. Maybe I can meet you next year.
Comment by Laura — August 1, 2006 @ 1:40 pm
Eek! Sorry Laura! Actually, I really didn’t have that much notice that I was going … so I didn’t get a chance to do much pre-planning or spreading the word that I was attending. Are you going to any blogging conferences coming up this fall? I know there are several coming up …
Comment by Erin Caldwell — August 1, 2006 @ 4:53 pm
[…] Diva Marketing Blog: Men At BlogHer BlogHer was this past weekend. An event for female bloggers of all kinds. Here’s some good posts from various bloggers. […]
Pingback by Blog Run » Blog Archive » Citizen CNN, Hot Times, Crisis Times, and Why Weren’t You at BlogHer? — August 2, 2006 @ 1:55 am
Nopers, Erin, BlogHer is it… I have to foot the travel bill from my own pocket (and take vacation days to attend), so one per year is pushing it, but it’s BlogHer… I just HAD to be there! It’s in Chicago next year which should be really fun.
Comment by Laura — August 2, 2006 @ 4:35 pm
What a bummer. Ah well — definitely hope to see you in Chicago!
Comment by Erin Caldwell — August 3, 2006 @ 12:06 pm