Lisa Ray Instagram – ‘Being daunted’, writes @katherinemay_ in her newest newsletter called ‘The Clearing’ ‘is the harbinger of every new venture.’ The ‘dauntedness’ can be experienced in many ways; a physical feeling, wavering attention, a tendency to feel sleepy and nip off for a nap when contemplating- as in my case- a blank page. I’m working on my next book and thought to take this quiet Sunday in Brisbane to walk the Botanic Garden and find a place to write. But of course I got distracted by the farmer’s market until I saw a stall for Polish delicacies which catapulted me into memories of my mom and all the love and unresolved issues we had. So I sat and began a poem about that. Dauntedness is of course related to fear. I get invited to share my cancer journey all over the world which I enjoy immensely, like the ‘Unsung Heroes’ event last night. I get called ‘brave’ for this. But fear is a slippery master. On one hand stories and story telling saved me. On the other-hand, writing the next story is so daunting. And scary. And so Katherine’s missive arrived just in time. What are you courageous about? And what in you instills paralysing fear? I’d love to hear in comments below. Read Katherine’s message. It might comfort you as much as it did for me. Happy Sunday! ‘The root of this, of course, is fear: fear of not being equal to this new project; fear of making a fool of myself; fear of alienating the people who respect my work. You would think that this fear diminishes over time, but actually, it gets worse. The stakes are higher now than they used to be. There is further to fall. It comforts me to think of this fear as a great unifier. It links my current self to the version of me who first sat down to write seriously as an adult, her head filled with ambition and shame. It links me to the new writers who sometimes comment on my page to say, I just don’t know how to make that leap. It is, I think, an expression of the importance we place on this work, which can seem so silly in a certain light, but which is actually deadly serious. It illuminates a vision of our future that is so precious that we can hardly bear to look at it.’ – @katherinemay_ Brisbane, Queensland, Australia