The Brave Hour
Don't forget it's Heart Leap Writing Hour at 9am.
“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” Susan Jeffers
I think Monday mornings are a good time to be brave.
Over the weekend I often notice my mind quietly building a list of things I have been avoiding. When life slows down a little, worries and niggles float up to the surface. Emails I should send, conversations I need to have, ideas I want to pitch but feel slightly ridiculous saying out loud.
By Monday morning the whole thing can feel oddly heavy, like a to-do list that has been sitting on my chest while I was trying to relax. One of the best antidotes to anxiety I have found is simply taking action. I send the email, make the call, pitch the idea and I do the small, slightly uncomfortable thing that has been hanging around in my mind anxiously wringing its hands.
Even if it goes nowhere, at least something has moved.
I used to think bravery meant big, heroic leaps, but the older I get the more I realise that most bravery is far smaller and far more ordinary than that. It is the quiet act of turning up and doing the work when you feel uncertain, slightly tired and not entirely convinced anything will come of it.
I think the shift for me has been learning to focus on the process rather than the outcome. I can write the scene, but I cannot control whether an agent will take me on or whether a publisher will buy the book. I can invite an author to come to the festival, but I cannot control whether they say yes. I can write a Substack post, but I cannot control how many people will read it.
But what I can control is my own actions.
And slowly, over time, those small acts build into something bigger. A scene becomes a chapter. A chapter becomes a book. One author saying yes becomes a festival with 25 events over three days. One page becomes a magazine. One Substack post becomes another, and before you know it you have a body of work and a lovely community of people reading along and coming to the Writing Hour.
Bravery, I am discovering, is not heroics. It is the steady decision to keep showing up, even when you are anxious, tired or not entirely sure it will work.
Today, let’s turn up and be brave together.
Prompt
What is the small brave thing you could do today that would move your life or work forward just a little?
Want to create a writing practice in 2026? Come join us at Heart Leap.
If you’ve been meaning to write — your journal, your Substack, your book, your Big Beautiful Thing — but somehow always end up reorganising the fridge instead… welcome home.
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