If you have something good. A belated Motivation Monday!

I’m sorry for the belated Motivation Monday this week.  I had a shoot on-location in Boston this past Monday, and I’m finally catching up in my home office today.  I hope this motivation is a little pick-me-up to get you through the rest of the week.  Here goes!

We have a book called “The Egg-cellent Mama Hen” that made its way into Grace’s book pile. I’m not sure where it came from. Grace loves the book, so we read it often before bed. The story is about an “egg-ceptional” mama hen who laid eggs morning, noon and night. She laid eggs everywhere she went. But, she didn’t just lay them. She gave them all away.

I believe in Synchronicity.  Synchronicity is the idea of meaningful coincidences or that our experiences in life may be woven together by a greater significance that we may not see.  I always enjoy discovering signs in unexpected places. The authors I’m introduced to, songs that come on the radio, running into the right person at the right time… coincidences? Even children’s songs and books, when heard with a sense of wonder, become just the right message at the right time. Life becomes unexpectedly fun when lived this way.

I find this especially true for what is written for children. It seems that we try to impart upon them our deepest held beliefs of unlimited potential, love, success and abundance in the simplest of terms. We want them to hold on to the beliefs that have somehow been conditioned out of us as adults. Perhaps that is why I love photographing children so much. Their spirits shine so much brighter without all of the walls in the way.

Think of how the song “Let it Go” moved millions of people, old and young, around the world. Suddenly children everywhere were singing it. Grace, at just 2 years old, who couldn’t possibly understand the deeper meaning of the lyrics, would sing it to herself to fall asleep. Why not a nursery rhyme? What is it about “Let it Go” that universally connected with people everywhere?

As adults, we want to believe in these truths ourselves, but life somehow gets in the way. We become afraid of what would happen if we “let it go”. We fear that giving our greatest gifts away would leave us with nothing.  We become burdened with bills to pay, incessant busyness and a voice of reason that says “think of all of the things that could go wrong.”

I’m reminded of Marianne Williamson’s quote, which wasn’t the intention of this post, but seems to perfectly fit right in. (Synchronicity?)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson is a spiritual teacher, and I generally don’t dish up religion in my motivation to you, but sometimes the words write me. The truth is, our spirit is the home of our creativity. Being spirited brings about our greatest work. We need to find that voice of all that is true and good within ourselves and then allow it to flow into every task we take on. Sometimes we need to lay aside the “adult worries” and remember what we tell our children: “all things are possible.”

Only then will our work as artists, photographers and creatives truly speak to people.

The second-to-last page of The Egg-cellent Mama Hen brought me to tears when I first read it to Grace. Its simple message is what I wish for my daughters to remember as they grow. It is what I wish for myself to remember when I am wrapped up in adult worries. It is what I wish for you to remember today as you go about your work and your adult responsibilities.

“Later on that night, as her chicks went to bed,
once their beaks were all brushed and their stories all read,
she reminded each one, as they closed their sleepy eyes,
‘If you have something good, never keep it inside.’”

If you have something good, never keep it inside.

It’s as simple as that.

Your friend,

Heidi

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