Leaving footprints

Following 5 full days of learning and experiencing The Daring Way™ program, I had a free day to wander around the river walk today thinking and meandering and watching and gazing and musing and quietly thinking some more.

The pathways, waterfalls and beautiful views alongside the water are relaxing and peaceful. After full days of thinking about shame, vulnerability, authenticity, courage and wholehearted living, it was the perfect day. The “alone day” provided some time for pondering about all the wonderful conversations I’d had with the incredible people I met…given the content and the safety of the group, I feel like I know a group of these folks better than many people I’ve known for years.

I stumbled into this beautiful area of heritage buildings with local artisans creating incredible art…there was one particular shop that caught my eye with its beauty, and caught my heart with it’s purpose: The store has art by dozens of artists who  give their art to be sold to contribute to the cause of raising funds for feeding the hungry of San Antonio.  The store clerk/manger  told me about the artists and their backgrounds and interests as they all seem to be friends of hers.

The store manager was a retired banker.  She came one day to help the church manage their books, and 8 years later, she’s still a regular helping out.

So, I was wandering around and was struck by pottery hearts. Beautiful and simply elegant…delicate and fragile. Given my love for metaphor, this struck me as a good memory to bring home of the last days.  Each of the 15 or so hearts was different in colour and pattern, and I had to choose which one to purchase.

I settled on one heart with little footprints on it.  The program I learned about in San Antonio is about “daring bravely”…living according to your values and being true to oneself without needing a certain kind of outcome to be OK.  And that might mean getting stepped on sometimes, right?

To me it was about resolving to live courageously, regardless of the response of people…I think its the goal of man to get rid of that persistent inner gremlin that asks, “What will people think?” So…that might mean someone who doesn’t understand might stomp on me.

The dear, sweet woman who was wrapping it up and chattering on about the heart and the footprints said, “Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, dear. But I’ve heard some other folks say that they see the footprints as signs of the impact of others in their lives and on their hearts.

Gulp.  Full stop.

And I realized I could rethink this in a much more life-giving way.

I’m like a lot of us, that way…my default mode is grumpiness/fearful/”cup half empty”.

I see shoe prints on a heart and I see danger.
She saw shoe prints on a heart and saw a gift.

I left San Antonio with soft and gentle footprints on my heart.  Conversations that have literally changed me forever–for the good.  Strangers become friends. Folks I respect and admire affirmed me in a way that was “wow”.  And many let me into their lives and I learned so much about the triumph of the human spirit over incredible adversity. They gave me a window to precious parts of their souls, and that, quite simply, is a huge honour.

The heart will be in my office…it will be a gentle and persistent reminder of the week total strangers got very real with each other over the days…how we chose to be vulnerable and authentic with each other.

And we all went home the better for it.