It’s a Long Old Winding Road

Regularly in life, the full circle comes around again.

Sometimes they are small circles, where you find yourself in a similar position, with a few years of extra wisdom and life experience under your belt. Other times, the circle takes decades to return and close. Either way, I marvel at life’s patterns and how often we repeat certain experiences or insights.

I don’t usually find the full circle to be an obvious thing. I have to be paying attention as it can be subtle. Once I notice it, though, it always brings a smile to my face.

The funny thing about the full circle coming around again is that it’s not really a circle. Well, it closes as one, but the road to that is a long and winding one.

I’ve been working on a particular project for a while … actually, I’ve been avoiding it for much of that time. My heart wasn’t in it as I tried to find shortcuts for my time, concluding that AI video-making was not for me. Nor is AI writing. I see the benefits of AI in many areas but as someone who values creativity highly, I risked losing my genuine creative expression. But it felt like such a mammoth project I’d set for myself without it.

So, I reduced the pressure on myself and made the project a more manageable size. It’s still a large project, but shifting my perspective has allowed my heart to enter and get excited about the creativity, even if it will still consume my time in the coming months. It’s a free video project that will launch next year, to support you in living with more courage and no regrets.

It was when I recognised the full circle that I smiled and found the missing link in my approach. The joy returned as, once more, life reminded me that no skills are ever wasted. In this case, it is just asking me for a stronger commitment to my photography, which has always been one of my favourite pastimes. My (conscious) creative journey started with me blending my words with my nature photos. So instead of it being my written word with still photos, it will be my spoken word with moving photos: videos.

The road to get here from there has been long and winding, with many hills and valleys, action and rest.

Life is like that. It’s a winding road, a challenging but beautiful adventure, and one that never lets us stray too far from our heart’s joy, even if we tune out for a while when trying to focus too much on solving everything ourselves.

Life gently steers us back. Our job is to trust that and not soldier on in fear when our heart is telling us it’s not into something we’re trying to force or control.

The quiet excitement that is now building around this project is a funny little gift that makes me smile, even if it still feels like a huge endeavour. Instead of dread, though, it is a challenge I’m up for.

I wish a similar experience for you: to hear when your joy is not in something and to have the courage to let go a little.

Take off the pressure and deadlines.

Trust in the timing.

And let life turn you slightly to a better angle so you can see the perfect solution.

The winding road of life is not meant to be straight.

We have to get off track a little sometimes to see a better path forward.

With love,

Bronnie.

PS. A quick update on the songs I shared in last fortnight’s newsletter. We ended up deleting the performance of my song “Vanessa”. There was a copyright issue between my distributor and YouTube. Even though these things are in place to protect the artists, when you’re the actual artist and it’s your channel, it can waste a lot of energy trying to resolve. It was easier to remove the video. “Vanessa” is still available on Spotify and Apple Music if you’re curious.

PPS. A new vlog is waiting for you. It’s called: Is it Crazy to Garden with Kangaroos Around? My vlog shares regret-free living in action. It’s me following my own personal dreams, sometimes with little more than courage! This latest episode is number 34. It has evolved a lot from when I started as you’ll see, and will continue to, and is a form of storytelling I very much enjoy. I also love sharing the beauty of rural Australia with you. All the past episodes are here.

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