Labor Pains

The final stage is beginning. It may just be a few false starts but I can feel the moment I hold it in my hands is getting closer every day.

I so remember the countless preparations for a real baby. The  lists I checked and checked again to make sure everything was ready. Then suddenly the classes were completed, the nursery sat with fresh paint and toys, the shower gifts were all organized and even the thank-you cards were written. The months of anticipation were nearly over. It was just about time for the main event.

Maybe it is how an artist feels the final time a brush strikes a painting he or she has been working on for a long time. Maybe it is the way a construction team feels when the last nail is driven, or the final window hung in someone's dream house. Perhaps it is how the musician feels when the score seems just right or the ice hockey player feels when the puck sneaks right by the goalie. Maybe it is what it feels like to a game hunter who finally has bagged the big one.The feeling is awesome, overwhelming and amazing whenever we realize something we set out to accomplish has become a reality.

We start with a goal or and idea and after much trial and error, a good bit of anxiety,sometimes many snags, frequent sighs of relief and sometimes even stubborn refusals to quit we can see the end in sight. If you have a passion for or about something it takes a lot more than sweat and tears to make you cry wolf and just like any parent will tell you how the pain of birth is forgotten and so worth the product, whatever you have poured your heart and soul into completing will often have you feeling the same.


So the ride is beginning again for me;the adventure taking its final turn and the investment of time and energy is about to be completed...just a few more pains to go and FINDING YOUR FIRE will arrive. I can't wait. I am excited, nervous, worried, relieved and anxious to see what it will look like!


Everyone needs someone's support at a birth and I definitely need your help on this one. I would love your opinion on which cover you think this new "baby" should wear. So please assist me in choosing #1 or #2, because I can't do this without you.

And please share what you're creating and how far along you and your "baby" are.

COVER #1

COVER #2

You can vote and comment directly on this post or scroll to the end of the blog and vote on the left side. Thanks for your help!
                                

I'M HAVING A BABY!

Image via Wikipedia

  In a few weeks, I will be birthing another baby. Oh, this one won't actually require I make sure my health insurance is up to date, my doctor knows my medical history or even that I start saving for its college education. You see, in a few weeks, my new book will be published and although, I don't have to agonize about impending labor or whether I will choose to birth naturally or assisted with anesthesia, there is still the anxiety as to whether the "delivery" will go well, and the product be exactly as planned.

Image via Wikipedia

Image by pinprick via Flickr

The birth of anything you create is much like having a baby. The idea forms and seems to take forever to get off the ground and become the product you really hope for. It is not without the unexpected feelings of overwhelming emotion, worry, anxiety, joy, panic, fear and satisfaction. You wonder what type of "parent" you will be. There is always some pain and sacrifice associated with the birth and it is most definitely not without stress, aches, and discomfort trying to move it in the direction it is meant to go. Some days you are impatient for it to just get here and other days you want more time to address every detail before its arrival.And just like a newborn, even once your idea is birthed, your business begun, your dream evolving, it will keep you up nights trying to decide how best to handle it. You will have moments of a love/hate relationship, wondering why God chose you and you will have moments of overwhelming pride in what you have created.

Image via Wikipedia

Perhaps, you too are having an inspirational baby or at least contemplating becoming a parent of an idea you have wanted to create for some time. You may be pondering a new direction for your life, thinking about something you want to finally jump into with both feet. Maybe you are going to be growing your own business, your own foundation, your own little family of ideas and you realize soon you too will have a new "baby" to call your own.
I can tell you as a business owner, even ideas are living and breathing and a business much like a child beckons for your attention, your time and your resources to grow it up appropriately and just like a child, it will be nearly impossible to let it go when the time comes for more branching out.


What about you? What stage of having a baby are you in? Have you been planning to have a "baby" for a long time or just recently thought about it? Have you already had your "baby" and are now a devoted parent and planning for an addition? Or, perhaps you are wondering if parenthood is really for you. I can honestly say, it has been the most rewarding time of my life for all of my creative endeavors, those with a living heart and soul who bear my name and even the ones who take on a life of their own once I spawn the thought. Creating is amazing, inspiring, exhausting and fulfilling...need I say more?

Image via Wikipedia

So, like so many before me, I am having another "baby". I am excited, delighted and yes, a bit worried about how it will all turn out. Oh, and yes, of course, since I already know the kind of baby I am having, I have already picked out a name, "FINDING YOUR FIRE" and I hope you will be there in a few weeks when it makes its appearance in the world.