Episode 77: I Was Boring Because I Was Scared

*some links included in the show notes may be affiliate links (see disclaimer below)*

Tiny Retreat: Healing the Witch Wound

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🏔 Connect on Instagram for more practical magick for your life and business.

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DISCLAIMER

Some links included in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission, however there is no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting Mountain Practice Journeys so I can continue to provide you with free content!

Links to other websites, products, and services do not endorse or guarantee the services, products, or information contained at the other sites. The information, products, resources, materials, services, and documents found here are not intended to be a substitute for legal, financial, or other professional advice, nor does their use establish a professional relationship between you and Cindy Norton or Mountain Practice Journeys.

INTRO

You’re listening to the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast: a comfy, cozy place for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who help and heal.

This is the place for practical, nature-based, magickal support for your business and life.

MAIN

Hello there, and welcome back to the Mountain Practice Journeys podcast! I’m your host, Cindy. Here in Episode 77 I’m going to give you a short and sweet little solo episode based on a thought that I had recently.

When I was reflecting back on my early days as a solopreneur and how I ran my business, I had the thought “I was boring because I was scared.”

In the beginning I chose to be boring (whether consciously or unconsciously) for all of the following reasons, and probably a few more…
-I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t being a disruptor.
-I wanted to make sure that I got everything “right.”
-I didn’t want to be controversial.
-I didn’t want to draw any attention.
-I didn’t want other people to think that I didn’t know what I was talking about.
-I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t going to upset anyone by saying something that they would disagree with.

In the past, when I wanted to say something or speak on a topic the first thing I would do is google it and see what everyone else was saying about it. I would also heavily research everything like I was submitting a grad school paper, along with all of my sources.

There’s not much personal growth in this way of being. There’s no authenticity. There’s no vulnerability. And there’s no risk.

My main goal was to do my best to ensure that no one would be able to disagree with anything that I was putting out there. I was so scared to have someone disagree with me or not like what I had to say. So I would say the most neutral and boring things. Things that no one could disagree with.

And that also meant that everything that I was putting out there was unremarkable. And you know what they say about being unremarkable – there’s nothing to remark on. There’s no substance. There’s no energy.

What I came to realize is that by doing my best to ensure that no one would have a negative reaction to anything that I was putting out there, I was unknowingly putting things out there that were forgettable, boring, way too generic, and unremarkable – again, meaning that no one remarks.

If you have a business, you want people to be remaking on your stuff. But that means that you have to give them something to remark on.

What happens here is that you run a risk. And the risk is that they can remark positively, neutrally, or negatively. And you don’t get to choose which one. And there’s no way that you can just put things out there that only get positive remarks.

You’re going risk being misunderstood and judged, because that’s what people do. For example, you probably know those people who are so quick to respond to the “headlines” of anything they come across. They comment on articles with their strong opinions without ever reading the actual article that they are responding to.

In business this may look like someone judging you by one single piece of your content, when you may have hundreds of other pieces of content that give perspective, background, nuance, and even differing points of view. We are complex.

People are quick to judge, and there’s nothing that we can do about it.

Over the years I’ve become more comfortable in my own skin, and – with not only having my own thoughts and opinions – but sharing them with others.

I’m starting to not toil over everything that I put out there. I’m being more open and sharing my thoughts and opinions – without running those thoughts and opinions through a strict filter and trying to predict what everyone else is going to think about them.

I’m becoming more of who I am. In the past, the truest version of myself was diminishing and losing its power and sovereignty due to my research of what everyone else was saying.

Hiding yourself hinders your growth.

My hope for you is that you become more of who you are.

I’m not saying that it is easy. There is a real reason that we can literally become terrified when it comes to showing our truest self. And that reason is the witch wound.

I’ll not get into it in this episode, but I’ll be sharing more about the witch wound in the future. But if you are feeling pulled to begin healing your witch wound, I’d love to have you attend my tiny retreat made especially for this. I have two spots left.

The retreat will be held at a luxury Scandinavian cabin in Black Mountain, North Carolina, February 27th – March 2nd, 2023!

I hope you’ll consider joining me on this one-of-a-kind, deeply nourishing journey. We’ll work together to release the fears that keep you small, hidden, and disconnected from your true power and purpose.

You can expect an all-inclusive experience featuring luxury lodging, your own private room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, nourishing meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks), a healing the witch wound swag bag (with over $150 of swag to support you on your journey), engaging workshops, guided meditations, gentle yoga, plenty of rest and downtime, divinations with oracle, tarot, and runes, warm outdoor spa soaks with expansive views, and more.

Visit mountainpracticejourneys.com/witch-wound for more information and to apply.

ACORN (Tarot Card Pull)

Welcome to the acorn segment. With each solo episode I’ll be drawing a tarot card to help provide some magickal inspiration and insight.

The card for this episode is the Four of Swords. And, this card was a jumper. I’ve talked about jumpers in a previous episode, but I’ll describe it again. A jumper is a card that jumps or falls out of the deck when you are shuffling. And I interpret this as the card wanting to be read. And since I’m just pulling one card, I’m going to use the jumper for today.

If you are doing a larger spread, you can add the jumper, or include it in the reading in some way as it may be of importance or provide additional guidance.

Now, on to the Four of Swords.

I’ll describe the card for those of you who may not be familiar. The Four of Swords depicts a knight lying in his armor in a tomb. There is one sword lying below him, and there are three swords hanging on the wall above him. There is also a stained glass window that features the latin word for peace.

The various meanings of this card are rest, inner peace, restoration, relaxation, contemplation, meditation, and recuperation.

This is a peaceful card that is inviting you to take time for rest. I’m not going to say much more about this card because it’s pretty clear that you need to take some time out for yourself to relax and restore. What I will say is that stillness is just as important as action – so treat it accordingly.

I’ll post a picture of the card along with the message today on my instagram @mountainpracticejourneys so head on over and let me know if this message resonates with you at this time.

THANKS

Thank you so much for joining me today. For episode 78 I’ll be chatting with Hannah McCormick and Nicole Hiller of Showing Up Solo about how to come up with marketing content.

If you haven’t yet listened to Episode 76, I urge you to do that. In that episode I spoke with Kelley Stevens of The Private Practice Pro about marketing your practice online.

OUTRO

I’m truly grateful that you choose to join me here for practical, nature-based, magickal support for your business and life. For more inspiration and to see what I’m up to, join me over on instagram @mountainpracticejourneys If you’re enjoying yourself here, please head over to Apple Podcasts and hit those 5 stars and I’ll be over the moon. And if you’d like to work with me, join me in Forestmind, my cozy, small-group mastermind for private practice introverts, highly sensitive therapists, and solopreneurs who help and heal. May the forest be with you.