You Are a Badass!

We love nights when there are Art Walks downtown. Each month, every store has one.* Normally we host a “for real” artist, but in February I was our focus with stone heart etching. We visited about how the hearts were made in Kenya and how they etch on them using a blade. This would not be good for children to experiment with during an Art Walk, nor would it be good for me to use either, so we used a Dremel tool.

The First Friday in our Salina store was fun, but it was too early before Valentine’s Day for people to be very interested and we were mostly entertaining ourselves. I started etching what were, in my mind, funny things on hearts. By the end of the evening I was pretty punchy and wrote “Be Brave Bold Badass” on a heart. Laughing, I tossed it into our basket of hearts… but then I started worrying. What if a sweet kid paws through the basket and sees the badass word? What if that kid doesn’t have a momma who cusses like I do? I would HATE to have a heart cause angst. The next time I was there, I pulled that heart. It rolled around in my car for a number of days before I decided to just bring it in my house. I put it on our kitchen window sill where we wash dishes.

The most amazing thing happened over the next number of months. I would see that thing telling me to be bold, brave and a badass and I think it started working on me! It was quite nice to have a little punch of go-gettem! I never mindfully paused and contemplated the words. The heart would just be there and I would be there and somehow it helped.

Then, friends, I started doing something completely new. I’ve started reading self-help business books. I KNOW! It’s shocking! I’m trying to learn how to be a business person eight years into owning businesses.

A common thread through these entrepreneur types of books is that we need to believe in ourselves. Have goals, yes. Execute them well, yes. There are all kinds of things that are important. But the most surprising piece to me is how everyone touches on believing in ourselves. I guess there’s something to it!

A number of business women have suggested putting cheesy ‘you can do it!’ signs (read in your best Waterboy voice) around ourselves. When I’m listening to podcasts, the ladies even laugh when they say how much it has helped them because it sounds so silly.

Then it hit me! My heart! I’ve liked having my heart telling me to be bold, brave and a badass! So I’ve been making all kinds of badass hearts lately because maybe they will help other women feel their badassery more too!  Each store now has a badass basket!  (Placed where children can't stumble across them.)

We are all awesome. We are God’s people. There’s no way we couldn’t be awesome. We have it in us. God wants us to be badasses for the good of all people in this world. I truly believe that. Whatever helps us embrace it and live more fully into it, I’m for.

As cheesy as it sounds, I think I’m going to jot little notes to remind myself to be as big of a badass as I can be. I just haven’t yet, and I think the reason is because I’m embarrassed for even my family to see them. See that?! I know it could help me, but I’m holding myself back because these guys who love me even in my ugliest state might make fun of me. Here I am getting in my own way again!

Do you have any of these snags? Push through with me, my friend. Get yourself a badass heart and put it where you are reminded often. Grow into claiming your badassness with me. Let’s write whatever notes help us to keep on. The people of this world need us to be as big as we can be for good.

Cheers to moving in a good, whole, helpful direction!

I’m sorry that I can’t respond to comments on this blog. It’s not possible with the platform I use currently, unfortunately. But I now realize that I can just email back or submit a comment myself. Please do leave a note if you feel compelled. I’d love to know what you’ve found to be helpful as you live into all you are called to be. What books are you reading? What podcasts have you found to be thought provoking? Any bloggers you would recommend?

*Each of the town’s Art Walks run from 5-8ish pm. Sometimes we run later depending on how gorgeous it is outside and how long we want to linger. Salina’s Art Walk is called “First Friday” and on that evening each month. Lindsborg’s Art Walk is called “Makers Street” and is on the second Friday of every month. Manhattan has just started an Art Walk called, tellingly, “Third Thursday”. It will be from April – September each year. Art Walks are always fun, friends. And it’s all free to look or hear the musicians play.

I sit here at our kitchen table and giggle to myself as I use that dremel to etch badass messages.  :)  I text my favorites to my sister so we can laugh together.  I text my coworkers for badass inspiration.  It's SO fun!!