It was like a gut punch I didn’t see coming.

It was late, maybe 2 o’clock in the morning.

I was alone in my new home, 2000 miles away from my family. Rob was out of town.

I knew if I ever wanted to fall asleep I would need to drown out the nighttime noises and the eerie creeks of a “settling” house.

Back then there was no streaming or DVR.

Standing in the doorway, remote in one hand and toothbrush in the other, I started flipping channels.

At that hour, it was mostly infomercials.

I found a random, non infomercial channel, tossed the remote on the bed and went to the sink to finish brushing my teeth.

As I came back into the room and glanced at the TV, I saw a man I didn’t recognize.

A preacher.

He was holding a paintbrush and palette, making large sweeping strokes across a canvas.

I don’t remember what he was saying, until he threw the punch.

Backing away from the canvas, it became clear. He had painted a large, vibrant target. 🎯

“When you are on target, you become a target.”

Ugh.

It was my biggest fear.

He may have continued with some inspiring bit about how there’s no need to worry because God will have your back, but if he did, I didn’t hear it.

All I could see was the target 🎯

All I could hear was his words reverberating in my head.

“You become a target.”

That, my friends, is why so many of us turn our backs on our deepest call.

That is the fear that has been programmed into the psyche of any child who embraces their wildly unique creative self.

You’ll be bullied.

You’ll be teased.

You’ll be…different.

As though being different is a sin.

The word sin means to miss the mark.

Now, all these years later, here’s what I know…

When we are on target we become the target not because we will be in the crosshairs ready to be taken down, but because we become ONE with it.

We become one with the creative energy that IS the target, the archer and the bow.

We transcend the game.

What would we each be capable of if we knew we were safe to answer the deepest call on our hearts and to express our creative genius?

We’re all here to be artists creating through a celebration of our unique gifts and talents.

I want to live that version of reality.

I want my children to live that reality.

I want to help my clients (and anyone else who resonates with my mission) to live that reality.

People sometimes ask me if in homeschooling my kids I am worried they will be “different.”

My answer, “No, that’s the point.”

My work is to decondition myself so I live as the artist God created me to be.

And to help others do the same.

Is it risky?

I suppose all leaps of faith feel that way.

Will we need to be brave?

Probably.

Will it be worth it?

We’ll never know if we don’t leap.

xoxo