Mid-Month Shorty #2

I never thought I would end up here again.. this is what happened when I let life take the driver's seat.

You’re reading the new mid monthly Soft & Strong update. This one’s a shorty where I share 2 new insights or experiences on my personal journey to embracing softness as a superpower.

#1 The surrender experiment

It’s been about a month since I finished reading the book by Michael Singer with the same name. I made myself one promise when I turned the last page: I will say yes to whatever comes on my path for here on, and I will not let my analytical mind make decisions for me any longer. This is how I now find myself at the brink of starting a new business. The thing is, my analytical mind had already decided that I would be writing my first book for the next 2 years, safely hidden away from the world in my home office in Portugal. But that's not what life had in mind for me. The amazing thing is that this new business idea perfectly brings together all that I stand for and am passionate about. I seriously could not have made this up in my mind. Now that it's been shown to me, it makes complete obvious sense. Like duh, why didn't I think of this before.. and well, that is life's perfection for you when we decide to surrender our analytical mind and let the stream carry us. There is great freedom in realizing that life knows what it's doing, if only we are brave enough to trust its course.

ps. Did I mention that I'm simultaneously peeing my pants to end up back in mega hustle masculine mode that I worked so hard to overcome in the past year ?!

Writing this from my airbnb room in Santiago de Compostela during a mini solo roadtrip.

#2 Nature teachings

I religiously stick to my daily mountain walks. Yes, Navy needs to poop, but it's also my biggest learning school, now more than ever. This morning I stumbled on this age-old quote:

"Nature never hurries: atom by atom, little by little, she achieves her work." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. And so it is.

As I move into this new chapter of birthing my second business, I am reminding myself that slow is fast, and that things always work out until they don't. I've now got a second chance at building a business and showing up radically different from the first time building Frank about tea.

Letting things come to me (vs chasing), trusting (vs doubting), feminine (vs masculine), soft (vs tough), I think you get the drift.. Who knew that this #softandstrong Substack and all of you dear readers would become my biggest accountability partner as I shift from consulting work back into building mode. Thanks, now more than ever, for being on this #softandstrong journey with me!

Love, Valerie

Soft is the new strong ✌️