I have been thinking a lot about bravery lately, and what that means to me as a woman and as a sailor, and how those two relate. Something popped into my Facebook feed today by Brene' Brown that stopped me in my tracks. She was talking about her daughter's graduation from high school and all of the emotions that emerged in her as a result of that milestone. Its a great post, and you can read it here. In that post she said that their family motto is that it is "okay to be brave and afraid at the same time". I love that, and as I read it I realized that I have experienced the power of this very paradox in my own life. I have found that by allowing both, deep growth and great accomplishments are possible (and even inevitable)!

I concurrently read a blog post by my new friend and one of my sailing inspirations, Nathalie Criou. Nathalie is a veteran of the Singlehanded Transpac (2014) and is currently in France getting ready to race in the Solitaire Urgo le Figaro , an historic French singlehanded race, which starts on May 26! In her post, she speaks of her "healthy dose of fear" as she comes face to face with some of the top sailors in the country. She is a very accomplished sailor herself, and I am sure she will give them a run for their money, but what means the most to me as someone that looks up to her, is that she is acknowledging her humanness in so many ways. She also has the best attitude about it and says that learning a lot and having fun will happen no matter what, which I love and wholeheartedly agree with!

After reading her post today, and knowing that she is over there on her own preparing to sail in a very prestigious and challenging race, I had to stop for a moment and acknowledge her bravery! She is brave to believe in herself enough to do it, and she is brave to do it, and she is brave to admit her fears. The latter, to me, is the biggest piece of her bravery!

Please join me in cheering her on, and stay tuned for an interview with her here on my blog when she returns from France!! My hat is off to you Nat!!!!!