Monday, May 5, 2014

I'll have what she's having: The Art of the YES

Year of Living Heroically #4: Crossing the Threshold. 

I've been looking forward to writing this particular step of the Year of Living Heroically and I am so very glad that it fell in this month. 

In YLH #2- I talked about saying 'no' and why it was really all about fear. We refuse the call of adventure because it scares us or we don't feel that we are good enough. 

So this time, I get to talk about saying YES, and the power that it holds. 

When a hero crosses the threshold of their story, they are actively choosing to go on an adventure, do something completely new, or just face what they have been avoiding their whole lives. They have met a mentor who has empowered them or shown them that its not as scary as they think. So they say YES and they start on their adventure. Everything is new and shiny once they say YES. Like a baby starting off in the special world. 

I think we can think of Dorothy putting her first step on the yellow brick road as a good metaphor as to how to say YES. Saying yes is a first step in a longer journey, but your on the road now and you can't go back. 

Just saying YES is empowering. There a certain freedom that comes with shedding off that fear and embracing something totally and wholeheartedly. The saying YES changes you as well. 

Some little questions that change everything in a big way by just answering:

Wanna grab some coffee some time?

Would you like to come work for us?

Will you marry me?

Want to have a baby?

So how am I saying YES this month to new adventures: I'm going to RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans, a place I have never been before, May 14th to May 18th. I'm ready to learn what NOLA has to teach and eat what NOLA has to eat. 

When someone asked if I wanted to be on a conference panel, I said yes. So you can come and see me at the Six Degrees of the Author/Editor relationship with the lovely Karina Cooper. 

When someone else asked if I wanted to be on a romance radio show, I said yes. So you can listen to me at the Worlds of Romance Radio Blog on May 14th at 10 pm EST.  

 And it is exhilarating as hell. I'm totally amped up to go!

So if you see me at RT and you need anything, ask me. I pack like a girl scout and I'm really tall. So if i can help you out with your adventures, I'll more than likely say yes. 

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Amanda Arista
Author, Diaries of an Urban Panther
www.amandaarista.com

2 comments:

Carrie @ Paper Bindings said...

Have fun at RT! I've always wanted to go. Maybe next year.

MsAwesome said...

Thanks. I think I will take this to heart. I will answer to what empowers me. Sometimes a YES, sometimes a NO, depending on the situation ;)