Say yes.
This was the second time I’d done it.
The first time was to NYC to be a part of Julie Parker’s Inspiration Day. I said these words in my speech then.
I meant it.
I did it again last week.
This time to the foothills of the Pyrennees in France.
My client, Deb Nicholson, had dreamt of a writing retreat in her chosen home town of Lapradelle.
For 18 months, I’ve known it would be happening and that I would say yes to the invitation.
It wasn’t easy. There were costs. There always are.
We think that yeses are supposed to be simple. Flowing. Filled with serenity.
They are not.
Many nos are required to make a yes happen.
Favours called in.
Agreements negotiated.
Time found and spun thin enough to fit through the eye of a needle.
Decisions weighed against metrics of desire and practicality and competing priorities and ancient narratives of worthiness and beyond. Because...costs.
So I know the value of a yes and every single one offered to me is a gift to be cherished.
And every yes I offer is considered, at least by me, to be sacred.
So when I say, “say yes”, I need you to know I don’t take it lightly.
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I said yes to speaking at this retreat. And I am shifted for it.
I said yes to writing at the retreat. And my proposal is done.
I said yes to a night in Barcelona with my pal Ronna. And I reclaimed a piece of my heart there.
And I said yes to a train trip with my daughter to Quebec City. I am writing these words to you as we bounce along the tracks. She has reached for my hand numerous times. She is happy. We will never forget this time. Ever. Ever.
It all starts with a yes.
Then we figure out the ways we will make it happen.
And it’s always worth it.
Always.
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At the retreat, we wrote down questions we wanted to have answered by the time we left the space.
And as a closing exercise, we offered each other wishes and counsel based on those questions. It was, in a word, rad.
I wrote this as an answer to a question too personal for me to share. But my answer was meant for her, and it was meant for you. (Fill in your own question being asked by your heart right now.)
“Should I ________?"
YES.
Are we done here?
No? Well, what else could be so for the questioning heart I know?
The one who gets to choose.
The one with the benevolent muse.
Because the choice is greater than yes or no, isn't it?
It's what comes next AFTER the yes or the no.
What lives beyond the choice?
What else is there?
EVERYTHING, Beloved.
Will you believe me if I told you you cannot pick wrong?
I'm right about this.
You get to choose.
And I get to vote.
YES.
Say yes. And yes again.
To the muse, to the call, to the invitation, to the bridge, to the ease.
Head to the east, guided by eagle who sees and knows what else is there is everything.
Eagle also votes yes, that cheeky sod.
Pack your bags, Dear One.
With talismans and a bib, for the juice of the peaches of possibility will drip down your chin on your way to the land of Everything.
And it starts with you choosing.
I pray you choose yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.”
Say yes, mes amis.
You will find a way to make it happen.
And you will not regret it.
The newest episode of Ready Enough podcast with trans comedienne Dina Nina Martinez was released on Wednesday and ohmyEVERYTHING, it was good. She is a brilliant light and hilarious and deep and wise and I hope you love it, her, and the podcast enough to leave a review and follow her work.
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