David Bayles doesn’t romanticise fear. He just calls it out. Fear of judgment, fear of failing, fear of being seen. I’ve known all of them. Still do. Yet, what I found useful was this: people who keep making things aren’t fearless. They’re just better at working alongside their fear. They’ve learned that fear is information, not instruction. And these are the people who have just stopped waiting for fear to leave the room.

These days, when someone tells me, “I’m not ready,” I hear it differently. I hear a version of my own voice from years ago. Still shows up sometimes. But now, I know what it is. The only way to be ready is to begin. So, I am raising a toast to all the unclear new beginning and messy middles.