The Contraction After the Leap

Allowing Ourselves to Be Seen, Scared, and Still on the Path

Last week, I did something big.

I launched my podcast — something that’s been brewing in me for a long time, calling from deep within. I didn’t wait for it to be perfect. I let it be real. I let it be enough. I trusted myself and created it the best way I knew how.

It felt incredible. I felt a sense of liberation. As though I had been holding my breath for a long while and suddenly took a slow exhale. I received so much encouragement and celebration and support from others. I had the deep sense of knowing that I was on the right path...

And then, almost immediately, the contraction came.

That familiar wave of fear, vulnerability, doubt — the “what did I just do?” feeling. The voice that says, “Maybe you should’ve stayed quiet. Maybe you shared too much. Maybe you shouldn’t have spoken at all.”

It caught me off guard, even though I’ve been through this before. Because that’s the thing about growth and change — they’re rarely linear, and they often stir up the very things we thought we’d already healed.

There was excitement. There was joy. There was a deep intuitive knowing that I was on the right path. And still, there was fear. There was a part of me that wanted to retreat, to stay hidden, to protect the tender parts that came forward in my voice.

For much of my life, using my voice felt dangerous.It’s been safer to stay quiet, to stay small, to only speak when it felt absolutely certain that I’d be received. But I’m not walking that path anymore. And maybe you aren’t either.

So I want to say this — if you’ve been holding something inside that’s ready to come forward…

A story.

A truth.

A creation.

A shift in your work, your relationships, your expression…

It’s okay if it brings up fear.

It’s okay if your nervous system flares up and the thoughts get loud.

It’s okay if there’s a part of you that wants to run and hide the minute you do the thing.

That doesn’t mean you’re not ready. It means you’re human.

We’re not meant to do this alone. We’re not meant to hold all the vulnerability and expansion and emotion by ourselves. This is why I do the work I do. This is why community matters. This is why nervous system regulation is at the heart of every transformation.

If you’re preparing to put something out into the world, or to speak something that’s been living quietly inside you — I see you. I’m cheering you on. And I want you to know: it’s normal to feel a little shaken, even when your soul is celebrating.

Be gentle with yourself.

Hold space for the contraction.

And trust that it’s all part of becoming.