Step Up To The Mic And Roar Back

“Follow the lead of the things you want, not the things you fear.” 

Facebook post from March 13, 2015

I used to think I was pretty fearless or at least didn’t let my fear dictate my decisions. What a crock of B.S. that was. Thanks to Facebook I now know that 2015 Harper was wise and 2017 Harper still has some work to do. Fear dictates everything I do. Always. But sometimes I have these moments of clarity, or idiocy, or a feeling of frustration that makes me do things my rational (read: fearful) voice would rather I not do. It’s only in these moments where I somehow magically (and it is pure magic) manage to shut the roaring fear down that I actually move towards the things that help me grow, the goals I really want to pursue, the community I want to be a part of.

You’re at home, in the studio, at the coffee shop, or on the bus. You decide to give a prompt a go. You think, “Hey, I like that.” So you open up your phone, you spend some time finding the perfect filter in Instagram, setting the best cover shot, or writing the dreamiest, smartest, wittiest caption ever.  Your finger hovers over the share button. Oh wait. Do I really want to post this? I bet it’s not actually that good. What will people think? I’m pretty sure people won’t like it. Is that the best filter? I wish I had worn a different shirt. I don’t really like that one part of it. I probably shouldn’t post it. It doesn’t really matter. Oh, it’s not that important. No one cares. Or maybe too many people care. Delete.

I was scared of The Iteration Project. I think I always will be. But I didn’t hit Delete. It’s still here and so am I and we’re moving forward. Slowly but surely. The fearful voices continue to roar. But if I never roared back then I wouldn’t know you. I would have quit making. I would have walked away. From everything.

There are too many people in the world trying to silence you already for you to silence yourself. I know many of you have found yourself hovering over that share button and then walked away. How do I know that? Because you told me and now I’ve called you out and now you know you’re not the only one. No matter if or when you decide to finally post, to roar back, I’ll be here holding a live mic just for you. I hope you find the courage to share the voice we all so desperately need to hear. Yours.