The Beginner’s Audacity

Finding Strength in Starting Fresh

I feel waves of inspiration washing over me each day. I feel stirred and nudged to take risks and steps that I’ve previously avoided or justified not taking. This new year is demanding more of me, and while that scares me, I’m here for it. (Though, let’s be honest—acknowledging that doesn’t make the trepidation disappear.)

Even with the ‘success’ I’ve experienced as a working artist—after all the years of speaking to audiences, inspiring others, and teaching—I sometimes feel inadequate when I think about taking things further. That lingering question, “Who am I to think I can…?” persists. I know you’ve felt it too. It’s the question that undermines us when we try to step into something bigger, into the ‘more.’

I’ve had a sweet ride so far and could easily keep doing what I’ve always done. But something inside me won’t let that stand anymore. Maybe you can relate.

As I step into the future, I’m keenly aware that how I do it is entirely up to me. The ‘easy path’ is familiar. I’ve walked it many times. Sure, it’s a little worn and stale, but I know it works. And yet, there’s this other path calling to me—a disruptive, uncharted road with no guarantees. If I’m looking for ‘confidence’ to take it, I know I won’t find it waiting at the start. Confidence comes with doing—by showing up, again and again. That’s how we become good at anything.

It’s been a while since I’ve been a true ‘newbie.’ While I loved the adventure of those early days, I often felt dissatisfied because I believed happiness would come later—when I was successful, when I made more money. Satisfaction was always the carrot dangling ahead, never in the present moment.

Thankfully, I’ve learned the opposite is also true. Joy exists in the now—in the moments of the day at hand. Today is where the journey happens, not in the hypothetical tomorrow.

So, when life nudges—or outright shoves—you down a new, untraveled path, it’s natural to feel scared. But we have a choice: to resist it, to stay safe on the known path… or to say yes. To step into the unknown.

I’ve decided to jump in, even if I feel like a beginner. Newbies don’t have confidence, but they do have the audacity to believe they can figure it out. That’s where I’m planting my flag: in that bold belief that I’ll learn to swim as I go. Because I have the capacity to do just that.

And so do you.

Here’s to us in 2025. May we dare to act and take the journeys that call to us.