Painting a flower does not seem like an act of courage, but sometimes it is. If you want to paint something, and you let yourself do it, that is a kind of courage. It’s the same courage that asks you to stand up to injustice, to speak, to walk away, or to make a change. It’s strengthening a muscle - the one you need when things feel hard and important at the same time. Painting a flower, or making a bowl, or writing a poem, or taking a trip, might be you practicing listening to yourself. And doing this, even though it may not be practical or useful or even all that well done, is a step on the path back home to yourself. Who are you to know what waits for you further along that path? It could be anything. It could be beautiful paintings of flowers or it could be speaking to thousands in Washington DC. But don’t paint the flower because it might bring you to Washington, just paint the flower and know that the resistance you overcame is the same resistance you’d encounter on the way to the podium. All great change comes from small acts of resistance.

We can choose courage or we can choose comfort,
but we can't have them both at the same time.

Brene Brown