Julia Cameron – A Worker Among Workers
This isn’t a lesson we usually like to hear, certainly not from our parents or friends, but it seems rational to listen to highly successful author Julia Cameron, who’s built her career on confronting her resistance and putting it in it’s place. Her book, The Artists Way, a roadmap of creative and spiritual lessons, has helped millions of people overcome their resistance to doing the work they need to do to fulfill their hidden potential. Julia tells it to us straight in fear.less:
“Work is a wonderful anecdote for fear. We have a duty to create, and when we finally do, a lot of emotional difficulties get laid to the side. I used to think praying would get rid of the fear and then I could take action. What I do now is pray, stay with the fear and take action despite the fear. I sit down at the computer and listen. Then I type what I hear.”
Now, get to work!
Best-selling author scared of writing?
Leo Babauta is author of Power of Less, Zen to Done, and Handbook for Life. He’s an online productivity guru (superstar) with the popular blog Zenhabits.
Excerpt from Leo’s story in fear.less:
“For a long time I was actually afraid to put myself out there and really go for my dreams because I feared I wasn’t good enough; that I couldn’t compare in the bigger world of talented writers and bloggers, so I never really put myself out there. I did what was safe for almost a decade of working, and it was only in 2007 when I decided to just try venturing out into the online world. I didn’t have any big dreams or goals, I just wanted to try it out.”
Get comfortable with fear
“A further sign of health is that we don’t become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it’s time to stop struggling and look directly at what’s threatening us.”
-Pema Chodron
Pema Chodron is a Buddhist American teacher and foremost expert on fearlessness. She’s my go-to person when I feel fear. Her books, Going to the Places that Scare You, The Wisdom of no Escape, and When Things Fall Apart are best-sellers and once you read them, you understand why. Without fail, her wisdom-told as anecdotes and lessons from our fallible human lives-are always a helpful solution to uncertain and anxious times.
Read Pema’s teaching on getting to know fear here.
Howard Zinn Speaks!
Today I had an incredible interview with Professor Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, social activist, and historian. I’ve always highly regarded Zinn’s work, and wanted to interview him on his experiences with fear and his involvement in the Civil Right’s and Anti-War movements.
He told me about the turbulent times he went through in the South, as de-segregation slowly transformed the landscape and how his visibility within the movement increased his chances of arrest. He also gave his perspective on the mis-use of fear tactics by the American government and their injection of fear into society as a means of control and limitation on the American people.
Perhaps the one thing that really hit home was Zinn’s understanding that collectivity reduces fear-doing things together with people and working toward a common goal gives you the courage to move through the fears.
Into his eighties, Zinn continues to speak and lecture around the world, dropping knowledge about what should be inside the history books in our schools.
Want to learn about history and fear? Best listen to someone who’s lived it.
From refugee camp to Harvard to Oprah
I was speaking to my friend Chris Czerwonka about the fear.less e-book project and he told me about his friend Mawi Asgedom. When I learned Mawi’s story, I knew he would be perfect for our e-book. When I interviewed Mawi, his story brought me to tears.
As a child, Mawi fled civil war in Ethiopia. His family was separated from his father and they survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in The United States in 1983, Mawi overcame welfare, language barriers and personal tragedy to graduate from Harvard University with top honors. Mawi delivered the commencement address at his Harvard graduation in 1999.
Since then, Mawi has dedicated his life to helping youth reach their potential. He has written four books that are used in thousands of classrooms across North America and spoken to over 500,000 students and educators. Mawi also founded Mental Karate, a training organization that challenges youth to create their own inspiring journeys.
Oprah Winfrey named her interview of Mr. Asgedom as one of her 20 Unforgettable Moments in October 2005.
In Mawi’s fear.less profile, Mawi takes us through his extraordinary journey and provides the tools and frameworks for others to overcome their own fears.
I feel lucky to have met such an amazing and inspirational person. Check out Mawi’s story in the fear.less e-book, coming in July.
fear.less blog is live!
Welcome to fear.less blog, companion to the fear.less online magazine, set to be released in July 2009.
As part of Seth Godin’s alternative MBA program, we’ve created fear.less, an online magazine on stories of overcoming fear, to send out a relevant and timely message of inspirational people who have conquered their fears.
Fear runs through the underbelly of our society and we’ve all felt it at one point in time (sometimes all the time.) The economy is tanking and people are losing jobs, and there’s a certain amount of fear that’s building within us all.
Despite our news media selling the sensational (fear sells more copies) and our government alerting us that fear is at an all time high (did it just go from yellow to red?) we have the option-and the obligation-to choose.
We can choose to rise above this culture of fear and unlock our own inner strength and be courageous in the face of our fears. This ebook is a testament to those who have done just that.
We’re refining our message, lining up interviews and compiling a great list of contributors, so check back often on this blog for our progress or subscribe via RSS.
Thanks,
Clay and Ishita