Dancing in fishnets, fearless


My friend Grace (she/her) has been a dancer since we were little (we met when we were 9!).

But over the last few years, she's rediscovered dancing as an adult, and has found an incredible studio that celebrates sensuality through movement. It looks like the coolest place to dance — think heels, fishnets, fearlessness, and people who lift you up.

Plus, they create these beautiful, choreographed, professionally-produced videos.

And yesterday, Grace posted the coolest, sexiest dance video on Instagram.

(I would share the video but Grace's profile is private — so just imagine a beautiful, strong, powerful woman dancing in fishnets with pure power and ferocity just emanating from the screen.)

And she wrote this caption:

It's funny we tell ourselves the things we can't do.

I can't go to class that late.

I can't show cleavage.

I can't expose that much of my legs.

I can't dance like that.

& then you do it all and it feels so damn good.

Here's to breaking all the can'ts this year.

And DAMN watching Grace dance fearlessly made me want to be fearless too.

And you know the first thing I thought of when I thought of the things I tell myself I can't do?

Writing about running.

Seriously, Annie?? Grace is over there being the bravest person I've ever seen, dancing in fishnets and sharing it on Instagram, and I'm afraid of...

Writing? About... running?

Just saying writing that out loud makes me laugh at myself a bit.

I'm literally a professional writer, and I've written about much scarier things than running.

But something about committing to writing about running scares me.

If you've been getting my emails this past year, you've seen me doing this wishy-washy writing thing, where I write about running, apologize for it, make sure there's some kind of business connection, and make sure it fits a specific audience.

I've been filtering myself.

And when I read Grace's post and thought about what it would feel like to break my biggest "can't," that's what came to mind — writing more about running, exploring this curiosity of mine, and unfiltering myself.

What am I afraid of?

Here are the things that have been stopping me (I know that some of these are totally not true, but these are the stories I've been telling myself).

  • I'm not fast enough to write about running (irrelevant, I know)
  • I had a running blog when I was 20, and writing about running feels like... going backwards?
  • I don't want to ruin my hobby and make it become less fun
  • I don't have a sTrAteGy

But despite all of these fears, two things are on my mind:

Thing #1: Elizabeth Gilbert's idea of curiosity, from her book Big Magic.

(Side note, I've now read this book twice and wow, please read it if you have any desire to be creative in your life.)

She talks about how "passion" can be a lot of pressure.

"We are constantly being told to pursue our passions in life, but there are times when passion is a TALL ORDER, and really hard to reach. In seasons of confusion, of loss, of boredom, of insecurity, of distraction, the idea of "passion" can feel completely inaccessible and impossible." - Elizabeth Gilbert

Curiosity, on the other hand, is easier to access. You don't have to quit your job and change your whole life for it — you might just spend a few minutes a day exploring curiosity.

In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert shares her own story of following curiosity:

At first, she had the slightest curiosity about gardening. It was a tiny desire to explore growing things in her back yard. No full-on passion, just a curiosity.

So she followed that curiosity and took small steps.

Soon, she was growing different types of plants, buying gardening books, and acquiring all sorts of gardening tools.

And then, after lots of small steps of following curiosity, it became a full-on obsession: she became fascinated by the history of gardening and ultimately wrote a book: The Signature of All Things.

She says that if she had started out on her gardening path knowing that she would write a book, she might have never started.

So when I think about writing about running, I think about following that tiny bit of curiosity and just starting there. No big plan. No strategy. Just a willingness to explore and play.

And thing #2 that's on my mind:

Life is short, fuck it.

Of all the things, if my biggest fear at the moment is writing about running, then I'm doing pretty great.

So click here to sign up for my brand new newsletter.


And here's where I pass the question back to you:

What's something you tell yourself you can't do? What's stopping you?

Take care of yourself,

Annie

I'm Annie, copywriter & business owner.

I write emails about taking care of yourself so you can do your best creative work.

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