Set your Feet, find your Voice, and Go.

The only direction in life that matters is forward. Never backwards. — Luke Cage

One of the hardest things for me to do is to stay present when I’m uncomfortable. My feet want to run, my hands search for a distraction, and my neck snaps down. I want to retreat underneath the covers as if I am a kid hiding from my imaginary monsters. The monsters, whether it is getting into trouble with your parents, missing homework, or lying to a friend, always seem worse than what reality has in store. It is a part of my life where I struggle with. I never want to feel like I am letting someone else down but I have no thought that they will be understanding towards my problem, I focus only on my failure. However, knowing where and how I struggle is crucial to the creative process. The struggle is what the process leaves behind and a clearer version of myself continues onward.

When I am outside, I find myself peering down at my steps. I do this, not to avoid a branch or to see what is on the ground but I look for my footprint. I wonder if leaving it matters or will it be swept away and forgotten. I realize this is a selfish and unrealistic thought, I mean everything will be swept away and forgotten but will where I go and what I do matter here and now? I look at my footprint and wonder if anyone else feels the same way? I wonder what other people see if they came across my footprint? What would they say? That person would be able to tell how big my foot is, what type of shoe I’m wearing, what direction I was headed and how fast I was going, and more. And yet, isn’t this the same with anything we do? The clothes we wear, the music we listen to, and the way we talk, everywhere we go we give others clues to who we are.

In nature these clues are paramount to survival. They tell us if something is poisonous, how an animal hunts, and how plants and trees survive. We do not ignore these signs but I sometimes fail to recognize my own. It is easier to tell myself that I am moving forward when all I am doing to walking in place than to push through whatever fear I refuse to face at that time. In nature the clues never change just like how I fight the same struggle over and over again. When this happens instead of breaking the cycle I will lie down and watch the same YouTube videos over and over again. I know all I have to do is swing my feet off my bed and find the ground again. Sometimes the distance between my feet and the ground feels insurmountable.

What am I afraid of then? I’m afraid that I’ll fail the people in my life. I’m afraid that I will go through my entire life being an afterthought. I’m afraid that everything my parents know/fear about me will come true. I’m afraid that I’m too apathetic/materialistic/comfortable to want to make a difference. I’m afraid my voice won’t be heard.

I have never written my fears down before. They are less scary on paper than in my head. On paper they are isolated and have no chance of changing unless I write it. But in my head and my heart they can almost do whatever they want. It is still my body and my mind. I have seen their footprints, have felt their fingerprints, and understand their language. The fear I feel blinds me from what I understand. I know my footprint, my fingerprints, and my voice. The discomfort I feel when my fears come will never kill me but if I do not do anything, that will.

The Lions We Are is an idea that is born when you set your feet, find your voice, and go. We are just beginning. Our process will not be rushed. The posts here is my journey of finding my voice. More projects are on the way. I trust that I will discover more about my world and the community we want to foster. The rest is in our minds and our hearts.

Ready or not, here we come. Here we come, ready or not.

Where do you get stuck?

Follow me on Medium, Twitter, and Instagram.

Keep updated with The Lions We Are.