starting with a website launch! connarjoy.com is LIVE. whew. tackled that one. y'all, this website has been my new year's resolution for the past TWO years. see that blog post below? it's from september 12, 2014. two thousand FOURTEEN. that's how long i've had my website under password protection. raise your hand if you've heard me say, "my website is coming soon! fall 2014! spring 2015. okay for real, fall 2015. no, for real this time it will be winter 2015." ...ugh, am i right?
so now it's january 2016 and my website is launched. still a bit under construction but it's out there for the world to see. how great is that? i'll take a diet coke as reward.
my word for 2016 is courage.
i am letting go of every bit of fear, anxiety and self-doubt struggle i have been weighed down with and i'm just going to go for it. i have dreamed so many dreams about my business. the Lord has placed a dream of being a full-time calligrapher on my heart and wow have i dreamed about it fiercely. for a really, really long time. i have stayed awake at night just thinking of all of the things i could do... who i could letter for, what i could write on, what new things i could learn, etc. i would get so caught up in seeing what all of these calligraphers i admire so much are doing, that i would quickly become overwhelmed with anxiety and fear that I am just not good enough or that i missed the boat. here is what i have to remind myself: comparison is the thief of joy. that is a truth i try my hardest to cling to.
so, i have now scratched the surface of what has been holding me back. going forward, i am prayerfully and intentionally going to follow through when i feel the Lord has really placed something on my heart.
first step: muster up the courage to launch my website. #DONE.
edit: my sister, carly, sent me some pictures of pages from for the love, by jen hatmaker, a couple days after i drafted this post. could not be more perfect. i'll share my favorite part.
"How many of us are trotting out that tired cliche - "I'm waiting for God to open a door" - and He is all I love you, but get going, pumpkin, because most of the time chasing the dream I put in your heart looks surprisingly like hard work. Don't just stand there, bust a move. (God often sounds like Young MC.) You are good at something for a reason. God designed you this way; this is on purpose. It isn't fake or a fluke or small. This is the mind and heart and hands and voice you've been given: USE IT."
i mean... i get a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes when i read things like this because HE is constantly showing me signs that this is what i need to be doing and i am constantly making excuses of why i am not enough. so here i go. COURAGE. and because i am so passionate about lettering, it's going to be completely okay if it turns out differently than i had dreamed. i will still love it, because the Lord has planted that inside of me.
welcome to the connar joy calligraphy website + blog!!! thanks for reading! i am working to add some things, fix some things, etc. so please be patient with me while i figure all of this out! make sure you check back weekly for updates and follow me on insta. but only if you're into calligraphy, babies (more specifically, my nieces and nephew) and/or fun times.
xoxo, connar