I've been working hard the last few months at overcoming my fears and following my dreams. So I'm running a series of interview with inspiring people to see what part fear has played in their life and how they've overcome it to live life their way...
First up, this week is Tara Wagner, the woman behind the amazing 'The Organic Sister' blog.
* Hi Tara, tell us a little about yourself and your family.
I'm a mama to an unschooling 11 year old son, Zeb. And a wife to an unjobbing hubby, Justin. We travel full-time, work for ourselves and learn independently without school. I'm a writer, mindful parenting and unschooling coach, photographer and dreamer. I'm crazy passionate about living inspired, self-directed or self-created lives, sustainability, hooping, learning and a million other things. I'm crazy in love with my family and my life.
*How long have you been travelling for, and do you have any ideas on how long you'll stay on the road for?
We started traveling in March of 2010. It started as a one year trip in hopes of finding a new home. But we're enjoying it so much (and we've yet to find any place that makes us want to stay) that we've decided to extend it. We don't know how long we'll travel for, but we hope to make it last just as long as we want and settle somewhere we absolutely love when we're ready.
*Is this something that you have always dreamt of doing?
No! In fact, it's something I never dreamed was possible. I had a pretty limited view of what I could actually do with my life before my husband came up with the crazy idea to get an RV. But once I saw this as not just possible, but pretty simple, it's opened me up in some pretty unimaginable ways.
*All of us have our fears, some rule stronger than others. What part has fear played in your life?
The "Who am I" fear has played a pretty significant role. Who am I to think we can learn without school, who am I to think we can make a living without a job, who am I to try to sell my photography or offer any parent advice or travel full-time? I rub up against that voice every time I start to feel inspired or begin some lofty goal. But although it's played a role, it's not the leading role. It's just a passerby, an annoying (and sometimes depressing) interruption
*When you have faced difficulties, what has been your inspiration to keep going?
My own desire to do it. When I sit on something I want to be doing, it burns. It haunts me and drives me crazy. Or it leaves and finds a new person to inspire and that's even scarier. I want to do so much in this life, with this life. It's full and amazing and intense and the potential is hardly even tapped. What other option is there but to keep going? If I quit every time something got hard I'd never make it out of bed in the morning (because really, what's harder than that?). So usually, I sit with it - the difficulty - for a bit. I feel it. I vent or whine or cry or get depressed. But ultimately I know it will pass. Sometimes in hours or days or even months. But everything passes. Then I get on with it. I might reevaluate or reconfigure. But I keep moving forward. Because I want to.
*What advice would you offer on following your heart and living your dreams?
Know what you want and why you want it. Then do it. Take a wild leap. Take a safe leap. Take three small steps. Just do it. Do something. Anything. Then surround yourself with other people following their hearts. Get support, get coaching, get a group started. I'm learning there's a lot of magic in dreaming with others.
*What does the Helen Keller quote on your website mean to you?
Have you ever looked up the word "adventurous?" It's full of descriptions like "willing to seek out new and daring enterprises; willing to incur risks; full of hazard; requiring courage; a wild and exciting undertaking."
THAT is life. Life is asking us to take daring risks, to be brave, to undertake a wild and exciting ride. It may look like parenting from a place of passion and compassion or writing a best selling novel; traveling the country or feeding the homeless. I don't think your life has to seem wild or crazy, it just has to be embraced fully. Just living awake and aware and authentically is quite an adventure in itself.
The alternative is what I think we too easily get caught up in: starting a job or becoming a parent and shuffling through the rest of our life half asleep, moving on auto-pilot and not enjoying the hell out of it.
THAT is life. Life is asking us to take daring risks, to be brave, to undertake a wild and exciting ride. It may look like parenting from a place of passion and compassion or writing a best selling novel; traveling the country or feeding the homeless. I don't think your life has to seem wild or crazy, it just has to be embraced fully. Just living awake and aware and authentically is quite an adventure in itself.
The alternative is what I think we too easily get caught up in: starting a job or becoming a parent and shuffling through the rest of our life half asleep, moving on auto-pilot and not enjoying the hell out of it.
*How role does your blog and your followers play in your life?
Huge. My blog is My Place. It's my one little spot of solace where I can both be and create Who I Am. Writing is my outlet, my way of processing my world around me. And within me.
But it's more than that. It's my way of sharing something with the world, putting my voice and my heart out there, even if no one hears or even needs what I have to say.
I sometimes put a lot out there. I'm nothing if not open and authentic. And some people are probably made uncomfortable by it. But every day I get emails and comments from people who thank me for it, who needed to hear that everyone deals with this kind of stuff. We all need to know we're not alone, myself included.
Connecting with people in that way is bolstering for me. Our world has grown exponentially because of those we've met online, and now as we travel, in real life. We've met so many amazing people, all doing their own version of amazing things. Being privileged to hear those stories, sometimes have an impact on them or be impacted by them is powerful stuff. You don't realize just how disconnected you are until you really start connecting with others.
But it's more than that. It's my way of sharing something with the world, putting my voice and my heart out there, even if no one hears or even needs what I have to say.
I sometimes put a lot out there. I'm nothing if not open and authentic. And some people are probably made uncomfortable by it. But every day I get emails and comments from people who thank me for it, who needed to hear that everyone deals with this kind of stuff. We all need to know we're not alone, myself included.
Connecting with people in that way is bolstering for me. Our world has grown exponentially because of those we've met online, and now as we travel, in real life. We've met so many amazing people, all doing their own version of amazing things. Being privileged to hear those stories, sometimes have an impact on them or be impacted by them is powerful stuff. You don't realize just how disconnected you are until you really start connecting with others.
*You have so many projects on the go, do you have any more planned?
Oh heck yeah. I'm a Big Idea person. I always have ideas and projects and plans happening. Some of them I have to love but let go, but there are a few more in the making. I'm working on a new website right now, to be launched this month, on sustainability. And Justin has ideas for another one. Or two. And I want to write more. A lot more. We're working our butts off right now, so some of these are taking a back burner, but they aren't going far. The writing keeps lingering over my head, so I'm sure it'll start demanding more attention soon. But first is the new website. This month!
*Thanks Tara!
I am so very excited about this interview series. I hope in hearing all of these amazing real life stories about fighting fear and following your dream, they'll inspire me and you to do the same.
