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Kate Laing // Writing, Making + Exploring in Pursuit of Cultivating Bravery.
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BRAVERY MISSION KATE LAING KATEWORKS

Bravery is found in all the corners of golden success and tarnished falls. 
It isn't always about grand gestures or daring actions. It's not the absence of fear. 
It can be deep breathing and focusing on not giving fear permission to rule our days.
It's giving ourselves grace even if some moments, bravery seems like a tough battle. 

When I was younger, my mom sent me on small excursions that we called "bravery missions."
Going into the store to buy milk seems intimidating some days. Some things take even more courage.


Send me your Bravery Missions... Maybe you bought the plane ticket or made the phone call.
Maybe you crawled out of bed today and picked up the milk.
Perhaps you gave a voice to the voiceless or jumped and made the decision you were afraid of. 

Click {here} to write me an anonymous submission. Your story is one of bravery.


bravery mission kate laing kateworks

COCOONED IN MY BIG FLORAL CHAIR, FORT COLLINS.

December 5, 2016

Something is stirring within my heart, it is crying out for something more. I find myself craving authenticity and depth as a new passion is arising. A passion to stop running from the past, to stop reasoning away the hardships and unfairness that arise from brokenness of this world. I want to fully embrace healing and to let freedom truly take root so that my heart can be filled once again with flowers of innocence and purity.

Why is it that we are so afraid of the beauty within us? It feels like everywhere I look I find myself face to face with darkness. The heartbeats of this generation are slowly becoming faint as they beat in time with the brokenness that surrounds us. Our voices are being drowned out by the masks we wear and the way we run from the brokenness and hide behind the world’s ideals of beauty and worth.

Yet we were never made to just exist, to wake up without a purpose. There is a love in our hearts that has been silenced, a compassion that is overlooked because it makes us feel uncomfortable with the way some things aren’t black and white. We crave depth and desire intimacy but yet so often we settle into routine and tie our hearts up with complacency because going through the motions so often feels familiar and safe. We bury our emotions and reason away the small tugs on our hearts that tell us life is so much more. Yet how can a heart truly grow and thrive if the only foundation it knows is a home built on fear and insecurities.

For so long I have struggled with not having a voice, without realizing it I let myself become a victim to silence. I let lies take root and put up protective walls. My heart began to grow faint and the beauty within faded into one with the world around me. Yet as I began to slowly start embracing my brokenness and was honest with the parts of my heart I had kept hidden for so long I began to realize that I had never truly been living and for so long had been breathing in stale air. I started to discover that there is a love that runs so much deeper then I can comprehend and behind all the walls I put up there is so much beauty to be uncovered. Flowers that were once hidden behind darkness, lies, self-hatred and insecurities began to thrive and to slowly but surely grow under the sunlight that had found a way into the depths of my soul.

Oh to be alive, to find myself no longer running away but instead realizing that no matter how painful healing is it is what my heart has been crying out for night after night. We are made for so much more; our voices were never meant to be hidden. There is a boldness and bravery that scares our generation because it means not looking away from the brokenness and being honest with our emotions as we begin to answer the tough questions.

For how brave is it to feel, to embrace the messiness of life. To let people see not only the present version of yourself but to allow them to see the scars you carry from the brokenness of this world. How beautiful is it to go deep in authenticity and to breathe in healing as you allow people to help you knock down walls of fear and to let them hold your hand as you process and dig up the weeds and overgrowth that have for so long hidden the beauty within. We were never made to wear masks, to hide behind perfection as we convince ourselves that we are alone. Your beauty was never meant to be hidden behind the way you portray yourself to others for your worth is so much more then just outward appearance.

It is time to be real, to be brave. For to be brave is to look at your past and the brokenness of this world and to realize that you have a voice and the power to walk forward into the light. To be brave is to allow yourself to feel, to cry, to be broken. It is realizing that you pain is legitimate and life hasn’t always treated you fairly, but to stand up for yourself and to choose to be seen. To be brave is to allow yourself to fly even if it is scary and you might fall, because no matter how comfortable the ground is you were never made to stand in complacency and fear no longer has the power to keep you rooted to the ground. Bravery is found in the way you acknowledge that you don’t have the answers and that some days are spent fighting anxiety and depression, for to be brave is to be real.

To be brave is to move past the lies that have bound you in silence and to take even one small step in forgiving those who wronged you and also in forgiving yourself. To be brave is to not let bitterness steal your joy and childlike wonder but rather to allow the brokenness to bring growth and freedom as you discover that this life is truly precious and you are meant for so much more. It is found in the way you choose to see the way the sky explodes into stars rather then to focus on the darkness around you, because you were made to be a light of hope and love.

It is time to stop standing on the shore as you watch the waves wash over your feet time and time again because you were made to run and dance in the freedom of Gods faithfulness and love. You were made to be brave and so even if your hand is shaking, pick up your pen and open a new page. Your past doesn’t define you and it is time to truly start thriving as you allow your heart to come alive.

In Blog, Bravery Mission Tags Bravery Mission, bravery, kateworks
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When I learned to lock Fear away and embrace Bravery instead, a world shaking mindset change happened. Courage started rooting deep - I was held and carried by the wild earth, and I tiptoed away from the pool of stagnant water I believed was meant for me. I realized when I crept away from mundane stillness that beauty is in every corner. I laced up my shoes because I wanted to chase it, to evolve a lion's heart that craved bravery.

It’s time to courage, my friend. Join me in April for A Month of Bravery Missions — if your curiosity has been seized, I invite you to head to the link in my bio and register. There’s a place for you, Brave Explorer 🌲 Let’s put your sleeping fears to rest.
These are a few of my favorite things... climbing over logs + scrambling through rocky canyons, coffee dates + snipping blooms, weaving + writing + wearing comfy clothes for adventures.

Happy #bangsblitz day, everyone! @bangsshoes is a rad adventure show company that gives back to creative entrepreneurs around the world 🙌🏽 #bangsblitzday #livebangs #bangsambassador
Gift a bouquet to your love, give fresh blooms to your sisters, forage in the dirt for flowers for yourself because it’s satisfying to cultivate beauty for yourself. Happy Valentine's Day, loves. You are worthy, brave, deeply beloved and cosmically lionhearted. Give yourself flowers today and put them on your wall so your sweet soul might enjoy their beauty. 🥀🥀🥀 * pick up or forage a bouquet
* take each individual stem, thank it for being unique and lovely
* tear off a piece of strong tape in whatever color you choose
* turn the stem upside down and tape it to the wall
* do those steps until you have a flower wall in your space
* remember you're loved each time you glance at the blooms as they dry and beauty is preserved 
Love you and you and you, today and everyday. If you need to be reminded of your courage, dear Lionheart, please check out my post right before this one 💛

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