Reclaimed Living

Find Your Pluck

Saved You a Seat

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Have you ever looked up and forgotten where you put your life?

Somewhere between responsibilities and routines, you lost a little of yourself. You quietly set aside the part that was curious, creative, adventurous...even courageous. And before you knew it, you found yourself waiting for permission to become the person you always meant to be.

Reclaimed Living is for those of us who became guardians of overfilled days instead of creators of rich, meaningful lives.

Each month, we'll explore one theme together. August's theme is Find Your Pluck: Living with Courageous, Spirited Determination. This issue will grow throughout the month, with new articles, ideas, projects, and inspiration added each week, inviting you to take another step along your journey.

Some features are reserved for our Attic members, but much of this magazine is here for everyone. Because everyone needs a little more pluck. I'm absolutely convinced you have more of it than you realize.

Helen Keller wrote, "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." I don't believe your life is nothing. I believe there are parts of it just waiting to be reclaimed.

Whether you use these pages as a workbook, a treasure trove of ideas, or simply a gentle reminder of where you put your life, I'm so glad you're here.

So settle in. Explore. Try something new. Come back each week as this issue grows. And if you're not already on our email list, I'd love for you to join us so I can let you know when the next chapter of this edition is ready.

sandy

Find Your Pluck

Rare Confidence

Rare confidence begins when you stop treating your humanity as a problem and uncertainty as an emergency.

Finally, you’ve decided. You’re going to accept that promotion at work, finish that artwork that’s been taunting you, or start that business so you can finally “retire.”

And you would do all those things and more, except…someone once told you to “fake it until you make it.” While you’ve learned a few things in the process, it’s been 20 years of buying the right clothes, being the right mom and doing, well, all the right things. And actually “making it” still seems forever away.

Yet, there are these strange people in your life who seem like they actually found the pathway to pluck (that means courageous, spirited determination, in case you didn’t know). When one of them walks into a room, heads turn a little. When there’s an opening for a manager, she’s the first pick. And ironically, she doesn’t even seem to be trying as hard as you. So you wonder where you got it wrong.

You’re not alone in your questions. Most of us believe confidence is built through reps, like strengthening muscles at the gym. And practice can certainly build competence. But competence and rare confidence are not quite the same thing.

But rare confidence isn’t found in projecting a level of confidence you don’t really feel. Rare confidence is found in what you release.

MY QUIRKY MOTHER

When I was in junior high, my mom drove over my foot with the car. It was quite the scene. Three car doors open. People piling out. My mother jerked the car into gear, yet as quickly as it tried to roll, it came to a stop…because the left rear wheel was completely on top of my ankle. As I yelled and my mother realized what was happening, she jumped out of the car to assess the situation. Then she looked at me and asked, “Do I need to go forward or back?” On that day, like every other day before or after, her non-mechanical brain just couldn’t figure it out.

We definitely could not hand Mom a stubborn jar lid, an unfamiliar remote control, or any small object requiring mechanical reasoning. The power to overcome these seemingly simple puzzles just wasn’t available to her.

And while we’re pointing out her many levels of human messiness, she also had the funniest quirk: her words regularly arrived at the wrong destination. When she was offering up instructions, the oven became the refrigerator more times than I can remember or the closet became the microwave. And if you know how it’s possible to store three pairs of snow boots in a microwave, we’d all like to know.

And the thing is, she laughed about almost all of it.

Whether she knew it or not, she had mastered the first of two mindsets needed for rare confidence: the settled knowledge that your imperfections do not cancel your worth.

Your human clumsiness, limitations, quirks and mistakes don’t mean you’re less than.

People who can release perfection, practice self-compassion and let go of the need to be seen as someone who “has it all together” can stop the internal war within themselves. Because someone who doesn’t have to win the exhausting battle to hide their unwanted flaws is someone who can search for and find their pluck.

My mother’s ability to laugh at all the parts of her that felt a little out of step with the norm gave her superpowers; unafraid of what others thought, she was free of pretending. It wasn’t the complete absence of worry, self-doubt, awkwardness, or error…but she was unconstrained by what other people might think. She was free.

When is the last time you released the exhausting effort to appear completely pulled together (whatever that looks like in your parts of the world)?

If it’s been a long time, so many people can relate. Performance keeps the authority outside of us. It trains us to watch the room for approval instead of building the quieter confidence we actually long to possess.

And the good news is this: you can decide to live as if your humanity (those quirks, raw moments and real struggles) creates connections that your perfection or guardedness never could. You can make this choice one time...and then return to it each day after. You don’t need to spend one more day letting someone else decide the level of confidence you deserve to have.

MY UNCOMMON MOTHER

My mom’s name was actually Marilynn Joyce Miller. She was born in 1944 to a mother who found herself divorced at a time when even separation was considered scandalous. Mom took me, at times, to the old Chicago row house where she had landed, among strict great-aunts, a stern grandfather, and an eventually remarried mother (who later had five more children).

Mom rarely spoke about her biological father. All I remember is one day (probably some random Tuesday after grade school and before dinner), she slit open an unexpected envelope and learned, through that impersonal piece of mail, that her institutionalized father had died. I never did meet that man, and I definitely never heard him referred to as my grandfather. A painful past often leaves behind missing people and untold events that teach us to keep our guard raised. On Mom’s deathbed, during her quick and ugly battle with stage-four pancreatic cancer, she would only say he was not a good man and he had beaten her. And you would think this would have made it easy for her to justify living as if she could wrap an invisible bubble around all the people she loved.

For a woman who had to take on the role of extra mom to her five brothers and sisters after the early loss of her own mom, who overcame a harsh and distant upbringing and who lacked the kind of stability we all long for, you might expect her response to uncertainty to be an attempt to nail down certainty at all costs.

But that’s not the relationship my mom wanted to have with the world. And in creating peace with uncertainty, she mastered the second of the two mindsets needed for rare confidence: the reality that uncertainty does not cancel your ability to act.

Anxiety tells us we must solve the future, but we were never meant to be all-knowing.

It’s common knowledge that not all situations have clear outcomes. But it’s an uncommon person who can embrace the unknown. And if you’re one of those who demands absolute certainty, you’ll also be signing up for chronic worry and anxiety when you try to control the uncontrollable.

What I haven’t told you yet is that people followed my mom wherever she went. As a nurse, nursing-home administrator, and nursing-home consultant, people looked to her for wisdom and knowledge. As an organizer of church progressive dinners and an Awana children’s-program leader, she rallied hundreds of people for both fun and impact.

But I want to be clear that her leadership skill was not the true source of her pluck. Her deeper rare confidence was found in her willingness to act despite the unknown, to try when she wasn’t sure of an outcome and to believe that she could make it through whatever wilderness she found herself living in.

What if that could be you? What if, instead of hiding in the familiar or wrestling with outcomes you cannot possibly predict, you released your need to control them? If you never learn to befriend the unknown, you’ll miss rare confidence by a mile.

While it is no picnic to walk through unknown territory that feels as though it may never end, the unknown can become some of the most creative space in your life...if you let it.

YOUR NEXT STEP

Finding your pluck means you can boldly pursue unconventional goals, recover more steadily from major failures, and shape your life on your own terms rather than following expected paths. And it begins with one daily decision: to release your need for approval and your demand to know how everything will turn out.

Remember my mom?

Her inability to remember righty-tighty and lefty-loosey, distinguish the refrigerator from the oven, or navigate with any sort of map became part of the joy of our family. She never mistook a jumbled moment for evidence that she was a foolish woman.

And she didn’t wait for uncertainty to leave when she suddenly became a substitute mother to her younger brothers and sister. At the nursing home,

at church, in her home, she simply kept putting her heart into whatever was needed next. That may be the clearest definition of pluck I know: the willingness to begin building before every answer has arrived.

So what if you released your guard and your drive to be certain? If your flaws do not threaten your worth, you do not need to hide. And uncertainty does not eliminate your ability to act, even when you cannot guarantee the outcome. You can make these choices today.

You and I—and my mother—are each a beautiful mess. Change the details, and you may recognize your own life in hers. Here’s what I see: If rare confidence begins by accepting that I am human and realizing I will never solve everything before I begin, sign me up. I’m guessing you may want to add your name to the list too.

That promotion may still be uncertain. The artwork may still feel messy while in process. The business may still require courage to take a first step. Our situations may not be different, but I wonder what would happen if we released the pressure to perform and to know with certainty how it will all work out.

When we begin living with rare confidence, you and I no longer have something to prove. We have something to offer.

THERE’S MORE ON RARE CONFIDENCE WAITING IN THE ATTIC...

We saved you a seat.

Attic members can access a companion reflection that explores what it means to be messy without deciding you are a mess—and how to keep moving when the future still feels uncertain.

Vintage Goodness

IN THE SHOP

A vintage pitcher is far too useful & beautiful to save only for pouring. We believe a vintage item repurposed in your home not only adds function to your space, but a depth of beauty from years of lived stories.

SHOP WHIMSY BARN ON ETSY

Find Your Pluck

9 Ways to Use a Vintage Pitcher

1. Fill it with fresh or dried flowers.
2. Hold wooden spoons and kitchen utensils.
3. Gather paintbrushes, scissors, or creative tools.
4. Use it as a small countertop planter.
5. Corral rolled washcloths beside a sink.
6. Display seasonal branches, feathers, or garden clippings.
7. Hold serving utensils at a buffet or gathering.
8. Collect everyday items such as clothespins, seed packets, or garden tools.
9. Leave it empty as a sculptural accent on a shelf or tabletop grouping.

Find Your Pluck

Where We Belong

I believe, a room should do more than look pretty. It should hold the shape of real life. And carry your days.

WHERE WE BELONG

In our bedroom, that means making space for four things: daily living, organization, beauty, and story. Each one matters. Daily living asks whether the room supports the way we actually move through it. Organization places our most used items within reach. Beauty creates the feeling we want to

return to. And story gives the room a soul.

For me, this bedroom needed to feel moody, warm, and grounded. I built the palette around black, camel, cream, and a touch of natural green, then layered in brown bottles, copper, and dark vintage art. The beauty is in the

depth and contrast, but also in the way those pieces settle the room and make it feel quieter.

Our rooms also have to support how we live. My favorite “morning couch” sits here, and it is where I spend the first (and often the last) few minutes of my day. That simple habit matters just as much as the art on the ledge or the color of the bedding. Truly, a room begins to feel like home when it makes space for the life you want to live inside it. Every day.

And then there are the stories. The dulcimer my dad and I made when I was in high school. An old shutter my mom bought for me on an antiquing trip. My father-in-law’s oil can. Quilts from my family. None of them are random decorations. Each one is a quiet reminder that no matter what house we find ourselves in, it is the people we love, the memories we carry, and the life we build there that make it feel like home.

Morning Pleasures

A room should make space for the way you actually live, not just the way you want it to look. This $10 Facebook Marketplace couch became my morning corner because it fits me perfectly, feels cushy without swallowing me up, and, of course, came in exactly my color. Sitting in front of the window, it lets me take in the newness of the day while still cocooning for a few quiet minutes before I am ready to begin.

Family Notes

The most meaningful rooms hold reminders of the people we love and the life we have shared. This dulcimer is one of mine. On a trip to Colorado when I was in high school, I became fascinated by the sound of the instrument in a little shop in Cripple Creek. We got the kit and Dad and I built one together on the dining room table, with him doing far more of the work than I did. Even now, it still sounds as beautiful as it looks.

Mini Collections

Small collections add texture, personality, and a sense that a room has been gathered over time. I started picking up old shoe-shine brushes at estate sales because I loved the worn wood and natural bristles. Grouped with a small stack of old yearbooks, they create a quiet corner that feels nostalgic and storied. They may be simple objects, but together they add one more layer of warmth and history to the room.

Shop the Look

Find Your Pluck

The Mystery Box Beginnings

Mystery Boxes at Whimsy Barn were born during the pandemic...back when none of us quite knew what we were doing next.

Our family had just moved to Illinois. I had boxes and boxes of miscellaneous pieces left from a vintage booth I had closed. And I had also just left a position, and it wasn’t exactly the ideal time to go looking for another one.

So vintage online became my new “job.”

Facebook had just opened shipping, and as I started posting pieces from my vintage collection on Facebook, sales took off like all the vintage shops had been closed for months and months and everyone was devoid of their happy place.

Before long, we were shipping sooo many items a day. And why not, since that was going so well. I decided it was finally time to start listing pieces from the enormous 500-piece pink Depression glass haul I had in storage.

And that is how Whimsy Barn Vintage on Etsy was born.

But I kept looking at all the beautiful little pieces...the ones that were harder to list individually...and wondering how I could help them find homes too.

Then, less than three months after opening the shop, I had this sudden thought: What if people would enjoy a vintage mystery box? Not just a random box of old things, either. I would choose the pieces around their own decorating style and colors, so every box would feel like someone sees them.

I started making flat-lay videos of the boxes for TikTok, so people could see how all the pieces come together. And lucky me, a few influencers happened to find those early videos, bought boxes with their own money, and shared them with their audiences.

And just like that, Whimsy Barn became known for its vintage mystery boxes!

What began as a way to find homes for all the small treasures I loved so much became one of the most special parts of Whimsy Barn: a surprise filled with vintage pieces chosen just for the person receiving it.

Find Your Pluck

Reimagined Doorknob

August 2026

A Little Crafting & Design Wonder

THE PRINTABLE NEST

For this Lemon Pie jar, I used Summer Hammond’s Printable Nest design to turn an ordinary pickle jar into something worth displaying. A handful of lemons and a few ribbons later, it felt completely new.

The Printable’s Nest is filled with nearly 1,000 designs you can use for crafting or display. And everything is easy to find, organized in categories by design type and by season.

Summer’s August drop is filled with cozy Fall and Winter printable designs made for jars, signs, trays, boxes, and all those pieces waiting for a fresh idea.

Get 50% off your first month with code: WHIMSY50

And if you love crafting & vintage vibes, head over to Hammon’s Nest on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Summer is the real deal, and I’d LOVE for you to support her and her small business. Tell Summer I sent you!

https://info.hammonsnest.com/printable-nest

SIMPLE STYLING THAT KEEPS COMFORT

Within Reach

A vintage teapot becomes thoughtful organization when it keeps tissues close at hand without adding visual clutter.

Find Your Pluck

The Forgotten Kitchen

RECIPES WORTH KEEPING

Here, we test recipes each month and share the ones we truly love. This time, my husband perfected these chocolate chip protein muffins so I could have a higher-protein meal that still tastes like a treat. Because good recipes should not disappear. They should be made, remembered, and handed down.

Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins

• 2 cups + 1 Tbsp All purpose flour
• ½ cup Whey protein powder
• ½ cup Granulated sugar
• 6 Tbsp Brown sugar (packed)
• 2 1.2 tsp Baking powder
• ½ tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ cup Lard (melted)
• ¾ cup Milk
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Canola Oil
• 1 ½ cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat your oven to 425 F, and line a standard muffin pan with tall bakery-style liners.

Wisk the dry ingredients together: flour, whey powder, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Then pour melted lard into your mixture and cut it in until the mixture is fine, damp crumbs. Add most of the chocolate chips.

In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients: milk, lemon juice, eggs & canola oil. Let stand 2-3 minutes. May curdle a bit.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Stir gently until completely moist. Then divide equally among 9-12 muffin cups. Add the reserved chips on top, and sprinkle with baker's sugar.

Bake at 425 F for 5 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 F and continue baking until the centers reach 198-202 F (or about 15 minutes).

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooking rack. (I like them refrigerator cold!)

348-463 CALORIES, 9-12 GRAMS PROTEIN

• 15 MIN.
• MEDIUM
• 9-12

Permission Slip

Permission to Make Room for Myself

This permission slip belongs to:

My needs, comforts, routines, and preferences deserve a place in my own home, so...today I give myself permission to make room for:

1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

Signed: Date:

Growing Determination

Dear Wanderer

Dear Wanderer,

Did you know that your story, the part not yet lived, is completely unwritten?

And contrary to popular belief, there is not one right answer for how you live it. Your next season could be slow and sweet, like savoring the last lick of a summer frozen treat. Or it could be wild and carefree, like the bike ride you made as a kid down the steepest hill, feet off the pedals and flying through the breeze. The beautiful part is this: you are still the author.

Somewhere between your twenties and whatever age you find yourself now, you got busy living. You built things, carried things, adapted, worked, loved, worried, changed, and kept moving. And in the middle of all that life, it became easy to forget that you still get to choose what comes next.

That is the heart of Reclaimed Living.

We all have something worth reclaiming. Maybe it is a part of yourself that got pushed aside. Maybe it is a dream you never quite explored. Maybe it is simply the freedom to choose what you love now, to create a home that feels like you, to make things again, or to imagine a future without needing every detail figured out first.

You do not have to return to who you once were.

You get to decide what still belongs, carry forward the best of what has shaped you, and create something new from there.

I believe the space between all you have already done and the life you have yet to live may be one of the most creative places you will ever stand. There is room here to experiment, to rediscover, to change your mind, and to build a life that feels both settled and alive.

So if you are wandering, perhaps you are not off-course at all. Perhaps you are simply standing in front of a blank page. And there is still so much story left to write.

Sandy

WHIMSY BARN · FIELD GUIDE

NO. 01

How to Sell a House

FULL of Stuff

No one ever taught you how to sell a house full of stuff... yours or for your family.

This guide is a complete field guide to clearing an entire estate — without leaving money on the table, without creating family conflict that outlasts the furniture, and without hiring the wrong company too late to fix it.

$27 · Instant PDF Download.

The guide professionals wish every family had before they called.

Growing Determination

How Do You Grow Your Pluck?

Q: Why do I start things with enthusiasm and then lose determination?

How many home or craft or life projects have you begun and never finished? Did you know that’s quite normal? Because beginnings provide novelty, possibility, and, often, immediate emotional reward. (Think dopamine rush.) The middle doesn’t give joy to us that way. It feels more like slogging. In the middle, progress becomes less visible while effort remains high. This isn’t necessarily evidence that you’ve chosen wrongly; the struggle is evidence you’ve entered the part where persistence is required. then learn, then adjust and then try again. You might surprise yourself with your ingenuity.

Q: How do I know whether I’m struggling with the messy middle or whether I should actually quit?

Perhaps start by separating difficulty from information. Ask yourself: Has what I want changed, or is getting there simply harder than I expected? Difficulty alone doesn’t mean you should stop when things get confusing or complicated. On the other hand, new information or a change in heart may be a sufficient reason to lay something down.

Q: What do I do when something isn’t working?

When your courage is high and you’re doing the thing, but it seems to be closer to falling apart than coming together, don’t immediately abandon the goal. Just because you plan to take the freeway home, doesn’t mean you can’t also find another way when road construction season hits. What if you changed the method instead (or took another path)? This is where pluck differs from stubbornness! Pluck stays committed to the destination while being flexible about the route. Instead of locking yourself into one way to do the thing, experiment, then learn, then adjust and then try again. You might surprise yourself with your ingenuity.

Q: What if I’ve lost momentum completely?

You know what it feels like when a new calendar year rolls around and you’re suddenly willing to make new commitments? Or when Monday comes and the week feels like a fresh start? We don’t need to wait for these occasions...because new starts don’t stick for long. Instead, we need to grow a new skill; we need to practice “returning,” rather than starting over. Don’t require it to be Monday, January, a day with a fresh notebook and a month with renewed enthusiasm. Instead, identify the next meaningful action you can take and re-enter from where you actually are.

Q: How can I become better at tolerating this uncomfortable middle?

Your spirited determination already has a pattern. Expect it before it arrives. Why not stop right now and name your predictable quitting points? Maybe boredom, criticism, uncertainty, slow results, failure, or inconvenience. Think through a few things (little or big) that you’ve quit and then regretted later. See the pattern. Then decide beforehand what you’ll do when your stopping points appear this week.

Know Your Pluck Point

Pluck isn’t endless motivation. It’s becoming increasingly skilled at what you do when motivation is no longer carrying you.

Ask Yourself:

1. What usually makes me want to stop?

2. What story do I tell myself when that happens?

3. What will I do instead?

Growing Determination

Bold Decorating

Bold decorating is not about making a room louder.

It is about making choices with enough confidence that the room feels unmistakably yours. Sometimes that means darker color, oversized art, an unexpected vintage piece, or simply using what you love without waiting for someone else to approve it. The goal is not to be dramatic for the sake of drama. It is to let your home carry a little more courage, personality, and story.

There was a time when I thought good decorating meant finding a room I loved and trying to recreate it as closely as possible. And reasonably, copying is one of the ways we learn. We notice what works, borrow ideas, and slowly begin to understand our own taste.

But eventually, there comes a point when it is time to experiment. To choose the unexpected rug. Hang the oversized art. Mix pieces you are not completely sure belong together.

Those little plucky choices are often where a room stops looking simply “well-decorated” and starts feeling completely like you.

Bold decorating does not have to mean one giant leap. You can choose the level of risk that feels right and still create a room with more personality.

1. Go Bold

Start with the pieces that make the biggest visual statement, like a strong rug or oversized artwork. These choices can set the mood for the whole room and give everything else a direction.

2. Try the Middle

Accent chairs, layered textiles, or a more noticeable color or pattern can shift the feel of a room without taking over. These are the pieces that add depth and make a space feel intentionally collected.

3. Keep it Simple

Small decor is the simplest place to experiment. Try a new color, an unexpected object, or a seasonal layer. If you love it, keep going. If not, change it tomorrow.

The goal may not be to decorate boldly everywhere. It is to give yourself permission to make one choice that feels more like you.

You do not have to become a fearless decorator overnight. Start with the level of bold that feels fun, then pay attention to what happens. The more you experiment, the more clearly you begin to recognize your point of view. And somewhere along the way, you stop trying to create a room that looks right and begin creating one you genuinely love being in.

Growing Determination

20 Ways to Grow Your Pluck

• Begin before you feel completely ready.

• Let one imperfect thing stay imperfect.

• Make the call you’ve been avoiding.

• Try the idea before you overthink it.

• Ask for what you need.

• Say no without writing a five-paragraph explanation.

• Do one thing differently just to see what happens.

• Let someone see the unfinished version.

• Choose curiosity when certainty isn’t available.

• Recover from a mistake without turning it into an identity.

• Use what you already have.

• Take the next step instead of solving the whole path.

• Speak up when your perspective could help.

• Make room for something you genuinely want.

• Stop waiting for everyone else to agree.

• Laugh at one of your own quirks.

• Finish something that has been lingering.

• Change your mind when new information calls for it.

• Ask, “What can I offer here?” instead of “What do they think of me?”

• Trust yourself to meet what comes next.

Small ways to practice spirited determination in everyday life.

Growing Determination

Drawer Design

12 IDEAS FOR CREATING A BEDSIDE DRAWER NOOK

Turn an ordinary bedside drawer into a clever space to keep within reach those things you need, use, or simply love.

1. Electronics Station Chargers, earbuds, power bank, cords, tripods, remotes.
2. Reading Drawer Current books, reading glasses, bookmark, pen, book light.
3. Nail Spa File, clippers, polishes, cuticle oil, hand cream.
4. Crochet Niche Hook, small project, scissors, stitch markers, yarn needle.
5. Journaling Station Journal, favorite pens, prompt cards, stickers, washi tape.
6. Bedtime Beauty Drawer Lip balm, hand cream, face mist, eye mask.
7. Morning Start Drawer Notebook, devotional, glasses, earbuds, anything used in the first few minutes of the day.
8. Puzzle or Game Drawer Crossword book, Sudoku, cards, small puzzle book, pencils.
9. Letter-Writing Drawer Notecards, envelopes, stamps, address labels, favorite pens.
10. Mending Drawer Small sewing kit, buttons, thread, safety pins, tiny scissors.
11. Comfort Drawer Tissues, lotion, cozy socks, eye mask, heating pad remote.
12. Creative Idea Drawer Sketchbook, colored pencils, clippings, swatches, idea cards, tiny inspiration pieces.

Growing Determination

Pocket-sized Patina

POCKET-SIZED PATINA

20 SMALL VINTAGE THINGS WORTH WATCHING FOR

CREATING MOMENTS

A Visit to Vinewood Market

When Courage Falters

Creating Moments

There are vintage shops you visit because you want to hunt for something good. And then there are shops where you find yourself looking just as closely at how everything has been put together. My visit to Wirewood Market was definitely both.

Over the years, I’ve loved wandering through the layers of old furniture, artwork, books, salvaged wood, metal, glass, and all those wonderfully peculiar little vintage things that make you stop for a closer look. But somewhere along the way, I realized I was getting a bit of a masterclass in vintage styling too. Nothing needed to match perfectly. Instead, the rooms and vignettes felt collected, interesting, and full of personality.

So come wander with me for a minute. Here are a few of the patterns I noticed that you can borrow to create moments in your own home.

Coming Soon

When Courage Falters

Perfect Pickings

Finding old bottles can be a bit of an art, but sometimes it feels more like a dig.

Yes, you can find beautiful bottles at antique shops and thrift stores, and sometimes that is exactly where the right one shows up. But if you're up for a little adventure and the thrill of the find, one of the best places to hunt is a picker's sale.

A picker's sale is usually an estate sale that has not been carefully priced and arranged. It is rougher around the edges and often packed with the kind of things you have to really look for. That is absolutely part of the fun. You are not walking through neat and tidy displays. You are digging through boxes, peeking under tables, checking old cabinets, visiting the barn and wondering what might be hiding behind the things no one else bothered to move.

And that is exactly where I’ve found some of the best bottles to live.

Bring a flashlight. Bring gloves. And if the house looks like it has been holding onto its dust since 1967, bring a face mask too. The dust badgers will absolutely be on the hunt.

But if you are willing to look a little longer and dig a little deeper, picker's sales can be one of the best places to find old bottles in groups, often for the best prices. Clear glass, amber bottles, medicine bottles, little apothecary jars, old ink bottles, odd shapes, cloudy glass, and pieces with just enough age to make them interesting.

The best part is that you do not need to know exactly what you are looking for before you go. Let the collection build itself. Choose the bottle with the shape you love. Pick up the one with the imperfect glass. Grab the tiny one simply because it makes you smile.

Sometimes the best vintage collections are not the ones we planned. They are the ones we dug for.

Meet Summer of Hammons Nest

PHOTOS BY LAVENDER HARVEST PHOTOGRAPHY | 2026 HAMMONDS NEST CREATIVE REVIVAL RETREAT

When Courage Falters

What Courage Becomes

A CONVERSATION WITH SUMMER HAMMONS OF HAMMONS NEST

If you know Summer Hammons through Hammons Nest, you probably know the creative world she has built around what she calls “vintage-inspired creative living.” Through thrifting, vintage, repurposing, decorating, and creative projects, she encourages people to see creativity not simply as a hobby, but as part of everyday life.

What you may not know is how her courage made that life possible. Summer has owned a brick-and-mortar store, closed that same successful shop, and moved her business online before most of the people around her understood what she was trying to build. She has grown an audience of over half a million people, and she continues to reinvent her business as the online world changes around her. When we sat down to talk about pluck, or courageous, spirited-determination, I expected us to talk about bravery. Instead, Summer kept returning to something more interesting.

We’re going to jump right into courage, and your decision to become an entrepreneur and businesswoman. So, let’s start with this, when you look back at the beginning, what did courage actually feel like to you?

Everything felt risky, and everything felt unknown. I would say, naturally, your body...and this is something I’ve definitely learned in the past year, your body is trying to protect you when you’re walking into unknown territory. So, it feels like you’re going to shut down or want to run the other way because it all feels unfamiliar. But for some reason, I always knew that this is what I was supposed to be doing, because I wouldn’t sit that fear. When I would have those moments, and I was mentally able to push through, it fueled me to think...this must be my calling. Wouldn’t a sane person run the other way?

Let’s talk about one of those major shifts. You went from a brick-and-mortar business to building online. What felt risky about that transition?

Closing my brick-and-mortar shop and coming online took even more courage than opening the brick-and-mortar store. The biggest hurdle was not feeling like I had to explain myself to people. Because, number one, I didn’t completely understand what I was going to look like. I was stepping out in complete faith and with a complete draw to doing what I do now. But people didn’t understand. Being a brick-and-mortar shop owner was way easier for people to understand and for me to explain than telling people what I was attempting to do. I couldn’t tell my sister or even my husband, “Well, this is what it’s going to look like. Just give me a year.” I had no clue. I had to get over what people were thinking, or what people might be thinking, and just do it. There was no way I wasn’t going to do what I felt I was supposed to be doing. I was ready to keep going no matter what.

What did that season feel like for you?

I felt like I was in this beautiful vintage truck that had only a gas pedal and no brakes. I stepped into this vintage truck and I was like, “Hey, we’re going down this road and you have no brakes. You can’t look back. Gas pedal all the way down.”

When I think about the word courage, when I first started, I thought it meant bravery. And I think it does in some sense, but as

I’ve evolved, actually, courage means resilience. Things are going to happen. The feelings are going to come. In the end, you have to be resilient to all things that are going to come along your path. When I first started, courage meant, “Be brave.” Now it means, “Be resilient.”

You did, over time, develop an audience. You have more than half a million people watching you and engaging with your content. But before people saw the growth, the audience, and the polished version of your business you have now, what decisions still felt uncertain behind the scenes?

At first, I didn’t understand how what I was doing was going to be successful financially. There was a lot of financial uncertainty. If you asked anyone close to me, they would tell you I would do everything I’m doing right now for free. This is my lifestyle. This is what I would naturally be doing anyway. So I had to figure out how to make it work and almost prove to myself that, yes, you can make a business out of something you love instead of it only being a hobby. Even creatively, I had to grow into confidence. When I first came into the online space, I was sharing a lot of things that were for everyone. Over time, I leaned into being personally connected with my audience. I learned to infuse my own taste and style confidently instead of being shy about going all in. At first, I wanted to please everyone. Eventually I settled into saying, “No, this is the lifestyle. This is vintage-inspired creative living. This is how I want to connect with people.” If they connect with that, then we’re going to be a perfect match.

This year, you hosted an event, for those who follow you and are in your groups. You prepared extensively yet fear still showed up. What did that teach you about the difference between being prepared and being fearless?

You can do all the preparation in the world and still have all those feelings creep in. For years, so much of what I had built happened in this little online safety box. There was a screen between me and all the actual people I was connecting with. Then suddenly, nearly 80 of those people were there in person. It was amazing, but it also felt way more real and tangible. I think that experience showed me that preparation doesn’t necessarily equal fearlessness. You can have all the things in order and still be overwhelmed when the moment actually arrives. There was joy in it too. It is interesting how joy, happiness, and simply realizing what you have built can overwhelm you.

If courage now means resilience to you, what role has failure played in learning that?

Alongside Hammons Nest, I work with Christian business owners, encouraging them and helping guide them along their individual paths, and I think one of the biggest hang-ups is that people are afraid of making mistakes. I always say that you need to fail faster. You need to make mistakes as quickly as possible because that is what gets you to the other side. Whatever change you want to make, whatever you want to put into the world, however you want to serve, the point is to make it exist first. Then you can make it better. If it doesn’t exist, you can’t finetune it. Failures come with the territory. If you want to look at them as failures, you can. I look at them as lessons. Failures are lessons and data for me to process as I move forward. You can’t stay there for long.

So, when plans fail or change, what keeps you moving in the same general direction?

There is one thing I continually have to remind myself of: my vision is deeply rooted in my why, and my why is my family. But I have remained flexible about the plan and the details of how I get there. Don’t become so attached to your plans that there is no room for them to evolve. When I feel like I am losing sight of my courage, I have to stop, regroup, refocus, and remember why I started in the first place.

Was there ever a season when courage felt less available to you? What did you learn about your limits in that season?

My moments of feeling like courage wasn’t available have been when I was feeling a little hopeless, and I could tell some things were exhausting me, and I knew I probably needed to get help, but I just didn’t get it. When I have had those moments of burnout or exhaustion, those have been my lowest moments as an entrepreneur. And that usually comes from a hard push or you’re finding yourself doing things in your business that exhaust you. So, that’s a personal development piece: as I’ve learned the things that exhaust me, and where I actually need to show up, I’ve had to learn to let go of those things that other people could do for me.

For the person reading this who knows something in their life needs to change but still feels afraid, what would you want them to understand about courage before they take the next step?

If you’re going to put any effort into thinking about how it won’t work out, I’d love to challenge you to put just as much energy, if not more, into thinking about how it will. This has become one of my favorite mindset shifts. We are so able to come up with all this fear around why something won’t work out. But where is the faith in that? I lean into my calling and purpose. I am a Christian. I believe my Maker put me on this journey. And so...when I think all these reasons it can’t work out, now I think all these reasons it could. If I feel called to something but don’t yet feel equipped for it, I believe we get equipped as we go. I tell people all the time that with the big changes and evolutions in my business, I’m just stepping out in complete faith. And it hasn’t failed me yet.

CONNECT WITH SUMMER:

Find crafting in the Creative Nest or Printable Nest or find the online Christian business coaching in her Soaring Sisters Collective community.

• HAMMONSNEST.COM
• FACEBOOK: @HAMMONSNEST
• YOUTUBE: @HAMMONSNEST

And if you’re interested in joining her printable nest, be sure to use code: WHIMSY50 for half off your first month:

PRINTABLE NEST

When Courage Falters

Sweet Somethings

Coming Soon

The internet had opinions about the snack station in my bedroom.

It started innocently enough. I wanted a few breakfast bars and some pretzels nearby. Then we thought, well, if we're doing this, why not add a mini-fridge for a cold Diet Coke or a protein shake? And while we were clearly committed, a drawer filled with twelve little containers of “sweet somethings” seemed perfectly reasonable. This round is a mix of chocolate treats and crunchy savory favorites, and don’t worry, we rotate them by season. No one is planning a permanent residency at the dentist.

But underneath all the teasing comments were some very firm ideas about what belongs in a bedroom. People worried about ants and bugs. Others were quite certain that food should stay in the kitchen, and that anyone who could not manage to get there for breakfast was simply being lazy.

For me, this little station has nothing to do with laziness.

I live with chronic illness, and mornings can be painful and difficult. The kitchen is down a flight of stairs and on the other side of the house. So this station became a gift to my morning self. It means I can ease into the day with a breakfast bar, a protein drink, and, more often than not, my mid-morning love affair with Diet Coke without asking more of my body than it has to give.

That is the part of home design I care about most. A room should not only look beautiful. It should support the person living inside it.

Sometimes that looks like art, quilts, or the perfect chair by the window.

And sometimes it looks like twelve little containers of chocolate and pretzels tucked into a bedroom drawer.

I wonder what a room created for your best days looks like?

COMING SOON

WATCH THE VIDEO

When Courage Falters

Piece by Piece

Finding Your Repurposing Spirit

There is a particular kind of frustration that comes with loving creative repurposing. You see someone turn three or four unrelated old things into one beautiful piece and think, How did they even see that? You want to be able to walk into a thrift store, estate sale, or your own garage and spot the possibilities too.

The good news is: seeing combinations is not a gift reserved for unusually creative people. It is a habit of looking.

Most repurposing ideas do not arrive fully formed. More often, they begin with one piece that catches your attention and a vague sense that it could become something else. Then you start hunting for its partner. You move from bin to bin, shelf to shelf, or room to room. You hold one piece next to another. You turn things upside down. You set them together, pull them apart, and sometimes leave the whole idea sitting on a work table for three days (or more) until the missing piece finally shows up.

That wandering is not wasted time. It is part of the design process.

A piece of reclaimed beadboard may simply need layered paint and a bird stencil to become something you would happily hang in your home. An old lamp base may need a little hardware, a few rounds of wood, and a completely different job before it becomes a plant stand. The transformation can be simple or complex, but the real skill is learning to notice what an object could do instead of only seeing what it used to be.

Color helps. Scale matters. Texture matters too. If the pieces feel too similar, the finished project can fall flat. If they fight each other in size or proportion, the idea may never quite settle. But those things are the supporting players.

Design is what makes the piece stay.

The best repurposed projects do not look clever because someone figured out how to attach one old thing to another. They feel resolved, useful, and beautiful. Like they could have always existed that way.

And there is a simple test I come back to: Can you picture it in your own space?

Not just on a craft table. Not just in a reveal photo. Can you see it sitting on your kitchen counter, beside your favorite chair, on a porch, or tucked into a shelf you pass every day?

When you can see the finished piece living in a real room, that is often the moment you know the design has staying power.

So if you want to grow your repurposing spirit, give yourself permission to experiment more than you edit first. Gather a few pieces that interest you and start trying combinations. Move them around. Change the scale. Add something rough beside something smooth. Repeat the color. Remove the piece that is doing too much. Do not worry if the first version is not the right one.

Creativity often needs a little wandering before it finds home.

A few things to watch for as you experiment:

• Color: Look for a repeated tone that helps unrelated pieces feel connected.
• Scale: Make sure the pieces feel balanced rather than top-heavy, tiny, or awkward together.
• Texture: Mix worn wood, metal, glass, fabric, or paper so the finished piece has depth.
• Function: Ask whether the new piece earns a place in real life.
• Design: Step back and ask whether it looks intentional, not simply inventive.

And perhaps most importantly, keep looking...

The right combination may not be in the same bin. It may not even be in the same room.

But once you begin training your eye to see possibilities instead of categories, the whole world starts looking a little more useful, a little more inventive, and a lot more creative.

When Courage Falters

Where I Found It

ANTIQUE TRUNK DRAWER ESTATE SALE

VINTAGE BROWN BOTTLES ESTATE SALE

RECHARGEABLE PUCK LIGHTS AMAZON

GLASS CANISTERS AMAZON

“LET’S STAY IN” LET’S GO OUT” HEARTH & HAND MAGNOLIA (RETIRED) TARGET

THE HOME EDIT MEDIUM CANISTER THE CONTAINER STORE

CARD CATALOG ESTATE SALE

MINI FRIDGE AMAZON

1970’S BUFFET FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE

BONUS SCAVENGER HUNT: FIND THE FOUR REPURPOSING PROJECTS FROM WHIMSY BARN IN THIS PHOTO

When Courage Falters

There are seasons when courage feels very far away.

Maybe life didn't turn out the way you thought it would, and you are standing among the pieces of a past you cannot change, wondering whether there is enough of you left to build something new.

Maybe you are entering a new season of life, and instead of feeling excited, you quietly wonder if what comes next is simply beyond you.

Or maybe there is something you have wanted for years. A dream you have protected by keeping it safely inside you, because putting it into the world would mean letting it become vulnerable to disappointment.

So, I wonder, where has your courage failed you? Maybe if you just noticed, you'd see what are you afraid might happen if you step forward? And perhaps more importantly, you'd see what are you afraid will happen if you don't?

Sometimes the things we cannot quite let go of are telling us something. The dream that keeps returning. The life we can still imagine. The part of ourselves that we thought we'd lost, but somehow keeps whispering that it is still there.

I believe, those things deserve our attention...your attention.

Then I ask, what if your hesitation isn't proof that you aren't courageous? Maybe you simply reached a moment when the courage required was greater than the courage you could find in the moment. That happens.

Sometimes we need someone to stand beside us for a while and believe in what we cannot yet believe ourselves. We borrow their confidence. We let their steadiness quiet our fear. We take one uncertain step while they remind us that there can be another. And slowly, something changes. We begin collecting evidence. I survived that. I figured that out. I can actually do the thing.

Until one day we realize the courage we thought we were borrowing was becoming our own. So perhaps the question isn't whether you were brave enough yesterday. It's: what still matters enough that I want another chance to choose it?

And if you can't quite believe you have that kind of courage yet, borrow some of mine. I'll believe it's in you until you can see it for yourself.

What Courage Grows

On My Picking List

• Architectural fragments
• Old drawers & drawer fronts
• Cabinet doors
• Window frames
• Porch spindles & balusters
• Chippy trim pieces
• Corbels & brackets
• Beadboard
• Old shelving
• Mantel pieces
• Furniture legs
• Table bases
• Hinges & latches
• Lamp bases
• Metal hardware
• Antique hooks
• Cast iron pieces
• Antique molds
• Old signage
• Wooden boxes & crates
• Tool caddies
• Fence pieces & gates
• Tin ceiling tiles
• Wire baskets
• Metal grates
• Industrial wheels & casters
• Odd pieces of ironwork
• Vintage knobs and pulls
• Shutters
• Outdoor pieces

There is a particular kind of frustration that comes with loving creative repurposing. Old doors are stacked against walls, drawers are tucked beneath tables, bins of hardware seem to go on forever, and everywhere you look there is another piece of wood, metal, glass, or architectural something waiting for you to figure out what it might be.

That was part of the joy of visiting Eco Relics in Jacksonville, but it is also the exact reason places like this can feel overwhelming. When you are surrounded by so much, it can be hard to see what is actually there, and even harder to imagine what any of it could become.

But that is the heart of a good salvage hunt.

The more you learn to see possibility, the more these places begin to open up. Instead of looking at a sea of unrelated old things, you start noticing shapes, colors, textures, proportions, and pieces that might belong together in a completely different way than they did before. And that kind of seeing can be learned.

BEGIN TO SEE POSSIBILITY

Sometimes the best hunt starts with a very specific need. Maybe you are looking for an old door for a pantry, a piece of trim for a wall project, a narrow tabletop, or something architectural to give a plain corner more character. If that is the case, bring measurements, take a photo of the space before you leave home, and give yourself enough information to know whether a piece has a real chance of working.

That little bit of preparation can save you from falling in love with something that is six inches too wide and impossible to use!

But some of my favorite hunts begin with no plan at all.

Sometimes you’ll be surprise at what you find interesting. Notice the pieces that make you stop, the shape that seems to match your space, the color that catches your eye from across the room, or the odd little object you simply must bring home.

You do not always have to know what you are looking for before you find it.

Sometimes the hunt begins with curiosity.

SEE BEYOND

One way to start seeing possibility is to look past what you already know an object to be. This takes a little practice, but once you begin seeing objects as rough materials instead of finished goods, your mind will begin to open to the possibilities.

Instead of seeing the item for what it once was, notice its shape, its color, its finish, the wear, the hardware, the material, and the proportions.

An old window may first register as a window, but what if what you really love is the grid of the panes? A drawer front may catch your eye because of its worn paint and old hardware, while a piece of trim may simply have the perfect length, texture, or detail for something entirely unrelated to architecture.

The more you practice seeing those individual qualities instead of only the original purpose, the easier it becomes to imagine what else a piece could become.

REPLACE “WHAT” WITH “WHAT IF”

This may be the most important part. Once you know what something used to be, give yourself permission to “unsee” that use for a minute.

An old drawer does not have to stay a drawer. A baluster does not have to belong to a staircase. A cabinet door does not need a cabinet, and an old lamp base may be waiting for a completely different life.

Instead of asking, “What is this?” try asking, “What if?”

What if I turned it sideways? What if I added a piece of wood? What if I removed the part I do not like? What if I paired it with something from another aisle? What if it became storage, a table, a plant stand, a display, or something I have not quite named yet?

You are simply training yourself to loosen the connection between what something was and what it could be. That is where creativity starts.

PUT IT TOGETHER IN YOUR MIND

Once an idea begins to form, practice imagining how you might assemble it...in your mind.

Ask yourself what else the piece would need, whether the proportions make sense, and whether you can actually picture the finished project living somewhere in your home. Maybe you need a round of wood, a bit of hardware, a set of hooks, a base, or something you have tucked away in your own garage.

This is where a salvage shop really becomes a land of possibilities, because the first piece may be in one aisle and the thing that completes it may be three rooms away.

And the more often you practice this, the faster your eye becomes. You stop needing the finished idea to announce itself immediately. You get better at holding two or three possibilities in your head and letting the pieces slowly find each other.

BRING HOME THE POSSIBILITIES

The goal is to recognize the pieces that have enough possibility in them to deserve another chapter.

Before you buy, ask yourself whether you love something about the piece itself, whether you can picture a use for it, and whether it feels worth bringing home even if your first idea changes. You do not need every screw, dimension, or detail figured out before you leave the store, but you should be able to see the beginning of something.

That is the difference between bringing home future clutter and bringing home possibility.

And maybe that is what I love most about architectural salvage shops like Eco Relics. They ask you to look a little longer. They remind you that creativity is not always about making something completely new. Sometimes it is about noticing what is already here, seeing it with a little more imagination, and believing you are capable of giving it another life.

So the next time you are standing in front of a stack of old doors, a bin of mysterious hardware, or something wonderfully strange that makes you pause, do not worry about knowing exactly what it is supposed to become.

Ask yourself: What would I make today if I felt confident enough to see the possibility?

What Courage Grows

Reclaimed Relaxation

Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to think of rest as something we earn after everything else is finished.

The problem, of course, is that everything is never finished.

There is always one more load of laundry, one more email, one more room that could use attention, one more thing we meant to do yesterday. And if we are not careful, even the rooms that are supposed to help us begin and end the day can become purely functional places we rush through.

That is why I have been thinking about reclaimed relaxation.

Not spa-day relaxation. Not a complete bathroom renovation. Not an elaborate morning routine that requires waking up two hours earlier.

I mean the small things we can add to our homes and routines that quietly tell us we do not have to begin every day at full speed.

Brené Brown once wrote, “It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.” I think there is something especially important about that word courage. Slowing down can feel strangely rebellious when we have spent years measuring a good day by how much we managed to accomplish.

My own bathroom happens to be oversized because that is simply how the house was built, but the size is not really what makes it restorative for me. It is the way I have slowly made the room work for the person who actually uses it.

I love beautiful things, of course, but what I appreciate even more is how easy the room feels.

That matters.

For me, relaxation in the morning is not necessarily about lingering in a bath with candles burning. It is being able to reach what I need without hunting for it. It is a mirror leaning exactly where I want it. It is having the things that help me get ready gathered close enough that the beginning of my day feels a little softer and less demanding.

Your version may look completely different.

Maybe it is an apothecary jar filled with bath salts that finally gives you a reason to use them. Maybe it is a shower steamer, a bundle of eucalyptus, a beautifully worn stool beside the tub, a soft robe on a hook, better lighting near the mirror, or simply clearing the counter so there is enough visual quiet to breathe.

The point is not to turn your bathroom into somebody else's idea of a retreat.

It is to notice what helps you relax.

Sometimes we underestimate what these little choices are worth because they seem too ordinary to matter. But a home shapes our days through repetition. When something makes life more easier, more beautiful, or more peaceful, you get to experience that gift over and over again.

house was built, but the size is not really what makes it restorative for me. It is the way I have slowly made the room work for the person who actually uses it.

There are reclaimed wood pieces and vintage mirrors mixed with the more traditional architecture of the room. Almost-Victorian lighting sits against black floral wallpaper, and a whimsical garden bunny has somehow earned himself a permanent seat on the bench near the shower. Old drawers that once had entirely different lives now hold my medicines and jewelry, right where I can reach them.

And perhaps that is what makes it worth reclaiming.

Not because we are trying to escape our lives, but because we want to enter them a little more gently. •

What Courage Grows

First Things

If your mornings tend to begin at a run, you might add one small thing that helps you settle into the day before everything starts asking something from you.

A few possibilities:

• Keep water or your favorite morning drink within easy reach.
• Put medications and supplements together in one attractive, accessible place.
• Add a soft robe or slippers where you naturally reach for them.
• Use a shower steamer, bath salts, eucalyptus, or a scent you genuinely enjoy.
• Create one uncluttered spot on the bathroom counter.
• Improve the lighting where you actually get ready.
• Bring in a vintage mirror, tray, stool, jar, or drawer that adds beauty while doing a real job.
• Give jewelry, skincare, or everyday necessities a simple home so you are not searching for them.
• Play quiet music, open the blinds, or give yourself a few minutes without distraction.
• Choose one part of your morning that you refuse to rush.
• Add something whimsical that makes you smile out loud.

What Courage Grows

What If It Doesn’t Work?

The courage it takes to find out...

What would you make if you knew no one was going to see it?

Would you paint the wall the strange color? Cut apart the old cabinet? Write the story? Plant the ridiculous garden? Start the little business you keep thinking about? Maybe you'd finally pull out the supplies you've been saving for when you're "good enough" to use them.

Somewhere along the way, creating can stop feeling like play and start feeling like something we can get wrong. An idea that once made us curious gets followed almost immediately by another thought: What if it doesn't work?

And if the idea really matters to us, fear rarely has the courtesy to introduce itself as fear. It sounds much more sensible than that. Maybe it needs more thought. Or it's not the right season. Or what if no one wants it?

Any one of those things, or more, could be completely true. But they can also keep a good idea safely tucked away for years.

So perhaps the question isn't simply, Am I afraid? The better question is: what if fear wasn't my stumbling block?

FEAR LIKES CERTAINTY. CREATIVITY CAN'T IT.

Creativity requires us to move from what is toward what could be, and there is an unavoidable gap between the two.

Creating asks us to make decisions before we have proof that those decisions will work.

But notice what fear often asks us to do in response:

• Gather enough information that we can't make a mistake.
• Wait until we feel confident.
• Look for evidence that other people will approve.
• Choose the option with the most predictable outcome.
• Keep improving the idea privately before exposing it publicly.

Those strategies might seem to lower our feelings of uncertainty. But unfortunately, uncertainty is also where possibility lives.

So, if you struggle with the need for surety, try asking yourself: Am I actually preparing, or am I trying to eliminate the uncertainty that comes with creating something new?

At some point, more preparation stops making us more prepared. It simply delays the moment when we have to find out if our creation will take on a life of its own.

FEAR DOESN'T ALWAYS SAY NO. SOMETIMES IT SAYS LATER.

A definite no requires a decision. Later lets us keep the dream without risking anything.

We can remain the person who is going to write, paint, start, change, build or make without ever discovering what happens when the idea encounters reality.

And there is a strange comfort in that. An unfinished idea retains all of its potential. The book in your head can still be brilliant. The business you haven't launched can still be wildly successful. The room you haven't changed can still turn out exactly as you imagine.

Reality is messier.

So when something has lived on your someday list for a while, ask:

• What specifically am I waiting for?
• How will I know when that condition has been met?

If the requirement for beginning keeps changing, the obstacle may no longer be circumstances. It may be courage.

THE SAFEST CHOICE HAS A COST TOO.

We tend to evaluate the risk of action: What if I waste the money? What if people don't like it? What if I'm not very good? What if it fails?

Those are legitimate costs.

But good decisions require us to examine the other side of the equation too. What does not trying cost?

Maybe nothing dramatic happens. You simply don't make the thing. But multiply that decision over ten, twenty, and the cost becomes easier to see. We can gradually build lives around what we already know we can do, what other people approve of, and what produces reasonably predictable results. Our world gets smaller without ever appearing to fall apart.

So put both risks on the table: If I try this and it doesn't work, what might it cost me? If I never try it at all, what might that cost me?

Courage doesn't require pretending the risk isn't real. It recognizes safe can actually be risky too.

YOU DON'T NEED CONFIDENCE. YOU NEED AN EXPERIMENT.

Here's where creative courage can become much more practical. Instead of requiring yourself to answer: Will this work? Ask: What would I need to do to learn whether this could work?

That's a completely different task.

Exploration gives us something thinking alone cannot: information. The first attempt tells you things.

Perhaps people don't respond to the product, but they're fascinated by one part of it. The chapter doesn't work, but you've finally discovered the character. The paint color is terrible, but suddenly you understand what the room needs. The project falls apart and teaches you exactly how you'd build the second one.

So before abandoning an idea, or spending two more years contemplating it, design an experiment.

THE POSSIBILITY TEST

1. What am I curious about? — Not what am I certain of.
2. What am I assuming? — No one will buy it. I'm not good enough. It will cost too much. I won't enjoy it. People will think it's strange.
3. Which assumption could I actually test? — Turn the fear into a question reality can answer.
4. What is the smallest honest version of the idea? — Not a meaningless baby step. A real version capable of teaching you something.
5. What will I know afterward that I don't know now?

You aren't trying to prove that your idea will succeed.

You're creating enough evidence to decide what deserves to happen next.

COURAGE GETS ANOTHER TURN.

Because sometimes the experiment works. And sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes the answer is frustratingly unclear. And that's when creativity asks for courage again—not the courage to begin this time, but the courage to respond honestly to what you've learned.

Do you improve it? Try again? Ask for help? Change direction? Let the idea go? Or discover that the thing you've been postponing for years deserves considerably more of your life than you've been willing to give it?

That's why I don't think creative courage is simply the willingness to make something that might fail. It's the willingness to trade certainty for discovery.

So if you think about that idea you've carried around for a while, ask yourself: What am I still waiting to know before I'll begin? Can thinking actually give me that answer?

And if thinking can't give you surety: Courage gives us permission to find out.

What Courage Grows

What I Can See Clearly

Sometimes the road ahead can look like a complete dead end, and when this happens to me, it takes so much effort to just breathe. But what if that dead end sign isn’t actually an ending? What if it’s a redirection trying to point you to a whole new beginning?

This is one of those truths that is easier to believe when you are looking backward. In the middle of confusing circumstances, when the path you expected to walk suddenly disappears or the thing you were counting on does not work out, it rarely feels like possibility. It feels like loss of direction. And it can hurt like pain.

And yet, this is often the very place where pluck begins.

Our courage, our ability to see hope in the midst of confusing circumstances, is what makes us plucky. Not because we understand everything that is happening, but because we decide that uncertainty does not get the final word.

If I were able to hand over spirited determination to you, I’d tell you it comes with a warning label: that when others get to complain, you get to hope. And when others stop as soon as they feel the slightest fatigue, you press through. And when others reel because they feel offended by someone, you press in and keep on loving. And best of all, when you’re at the end of your emotional strength, you rest and remember tomorrow is another day with a fresh start of its own.

That is not an easy way to live. Hope asks something of us. Pluck is determination. Stick-to-it-ness. And it is spirited, meaning optimistic realism. You’re not flailing in the wind or hoping without cause. You’re finding a cause and giving it all you’ve got.

Sometimes that cause is a dream you cannot quite let go of. Sometimes it is a relationship worth tending. Sometimes it is a business, a home, a family, a creative idea, or simply the person you still believe you can become.

And sometimes pluck looks far less impressive than we imagine. It is getting up again. Making the phone call. Trying the next idea. Resting instead of quitting. Looking at the road that seems to end in front of you and wondering, perhaps, for the first time, whether you were meant to turn instead of stop.

If I could hand you pluck, you’d be able to rise and do the thing.

But since I cannot hand it to you, I will remind you of this: pluck is a choice. A decision to see a future that doesn’t yet exist and make it materialize.

And while it’s not blind optimism, it takes someone with a vision to press beyond where others stop. Someone willing to believe that a closed road may not be the end of the story. Someone willing to keep looking for the path that has not become obvious yet.

Maybe that is what I see clearly now.

We do not always need the road to open before we choose hope. Sometimes hope is the thing that keeps us moving long enough to discover the opening.

So today, I hope you’re holding a fireball of pluck in your hand or, better yet, in your heart.

Because everyone deserves to find their pluck and see what it will do in the world when you release its power.