“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ~Dr Seuss

Having courage is choosing between fear and action. It’s an every single day choice, not just a single act of heroism. In whatever you do, you should never be afraid of making a mistake or of feeling embarrassed about what you’re doing or bad about what you’re doing (that’s of course if what you’re doing has good intentions behind it—if you’re doing unkind, cruel things you deserve to feel bad and a whole lot more). If you never try anything, you won’t know if you like it or not and you will (without a doubt) not get any better at it.

It’s best to rise to the occasion and accept the challenge than run away and hide or worse yet, to not even try. It’s important to be passionate about what you’re doing too. Having passion for what you do will enable you to persevere despite what is thrown your way—and like I’ve said before, the Universe only throws stuff at you that it knows you can handle. See the Universe believes in you! Time to get your thinking in line with the Universal program ha… ha!

Doubting if you have skills or thinking that you haven’t prepared properly for the task at hand is consciously choosing to fail. You’ve lost before you even give yourself a chance. One of my hip hop buds once gave me a great piece of advice: Be prepared Bianca, otherwise you’ll miss opportunities. I’ve seen him go on capitalise on many opportunities in his career because he choose to be brave, and choose to be prepared! He choose to be courageous and it has well and truly paid off!

In order to be prepared myself, I’ve had to be brave and take the necessary steps to get things rolling. I’ve definitely had to overcome things that, at the time, my first instinct was ‘I can’t’. I cried, I got mad, I cried again and then I put my brave hat on and pinned my courage button on and moved forward.

A story…

I once dated this guy that wanted me to pretty much give up my work (my writing) and settle down, get a full-time job and buy a house. I thought I really loved this person—I now know that someone that loves you wants you to be you not what they want you to become, and they also certainly don’t try to tell you what’s best for you!—so I thought about it…seriously! I stopped writing and become soul crushingly depressed. I started looking for a full-time job to replace my two jobs I already had! My partner was happy but I was dying. I was a walking zombie. Don’t get me wrong, I do want the house one day and I’d love kids but I have always believed that one day I could obtain that through doing what I love for a living (and if for some reason I don’t at least I’ll have had a remarkable, full, adventure-filled life).

One day in the deepest depths of my gloom I went to visit my friend D and we had a chat that really put things into perspective. He explained to me that I’m doing a great disservice to myself and the Universe if I didn’t keep following my passion and living my dream. He was like ‘you can’t go on living like this, each day you’re losing a little of your Miss B sparkle and it’s killing me to watch it happen.’ He said it was time to suck it all up and move on. It was time to be courageous! Thanks for the advice D, love you! Obviously the fact that you’re reading this, suggests how things turned out… for the best!

Have there been times when you’ve been brave?

I’ll let you all in on a little secret… something that scares me a lot (even at times I’d use the word terrifies me) is performing live. I’ve watched all my friends do it for so long now; I’ve stood front of house, side of stage, on stage to help soundcheck, been a guest for songs in friends’ sets but… have never gotten up the guts to perform live myself. I’ve had bands that have rehearsed for a million hours and recorded; I’ve been working on my own stuff and collabs with wonderful hip hop and punk friends but never have I set foot on stage with my own art. I am working towards changing that this year though. I’m going to get my courage on and make the dream I’ve had since I was a kid come true!

Is there anything that you’re terrified to do that you’re working on overcoming?

It’s time to commit to what you’re doing and what you want to do. Maybe together we can summon the courage to make things happen! I’ve found though, even when I haven’t had my cheer squad on hand to support me if I believe in myself I can do great things. Sometimes that lack of attention from others can make for a greater self-awareness.

Being fearful can be the Universe’s way of saying ‘how bad do you want it? If you want it bad enough you can push through your fear…

“It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It is the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.”~Bette Midler

What makes a king out of a slave? Courage!
What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage!
What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage!
What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage!
What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage!
What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got? Courage!
~Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz
(one of my all-time favourite films & stories)

Time to get those courage caps on and those courage buttons pinned. Ask yourself ‘how bad do I want it?’

See ya in the pit (at one of my shows hopefully ;))!
(I heart Rancid)

PS- 30-days of blogging! I made it! This calls for a celebration! If you’re in my ‘hood tonight come party with the One Man Party Steve from Soulwax!

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