Hey y’all,
I can say that because today’s guest is from Nashville. Plus, I just love saying y’all.
IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE, Y’ALL!!
Annie has a new book hot off the press. The words she’s written about me below are far too kind, but they will give you a feel of how her latest release will inspire you.
Also, since it’s just us here, I wanted to give you an update on something. You might have gathered from my hints on social media that I was going to launch a podcast this fall. I have already collected a handful of interviews, recorded my intro music and all that other fun stuff, but after some thinking, praying and wise counsel, I have decided to put the podcast (and my book) on hold. There may be more to say so I’m going to sit on what I wrote for a bit.
All of these pauses are for good reasons, even though I personally hate not delivering on things I’ve promised. Sometimes I get ahead of myself in life, and as much as I want to do everything RIGHT NOW, I’m deciding to pause.
However, with Annie doing a guest post, I thought I might as well share a 50-minute snippet of our 80-minute chat together. Show notes are included, so you can just skip ahead to when we start talking about N’Sync.
Obviously.
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Photo Credit: Ian Pratt
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Since I started working on this book in 2011, I have been looking for brave. I look for it in movies and television shows, in songs and musicals, in books and papers and people. I look for brave because if I see it somewhere else, I feel it in me.
More often than not, I’m most inspirited by the people around me. One of the beautiful things about our world is how the internet has shrunk it down in such a way that your best friends can live in almost any city in the world and yet, you speak every day. Sure, reading a tweet is not the same as sitting across the table in a coffee shop, but it works.
I watch Joy from across the country. (Creepy? Yes.) I sit in Nashville and I watch her risk and be brave- in public ways and personal ways. When I see her be brave, I’m willing to be brave, too.
Who makes you feel brave? Who in your life loves you through thick and thin, stands by you through success and failure, watches and cheers or catches your heart when it all falls apart?
Love given is courage gained.
It’s why we focus on healthy relationships- being in them, cultivating them, working for them. Because to be the bravest version of myself, I need my people. And so do you.
Joy and I sat on a couch in February, planning together how to best host an event, what interview questions to ask, and generally how to be absolutely hilarious without being annoying. She didn’t ask me to be brave, she didn’t remind me to be brave, but we sat together, and when I felt fear creeping up, her friendship squashed it.
Let’s All Be Brave is about how to find those people that make you feel brave and embrace the opportunities to walk in that courage.
Who is your people? Who makes you feel brave? Call them today and say so. Be brave with your words. Be brave with your love. Be brave for your people, and they will be brave for you.
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Want more stories like this one?
Leave a comment, question or thought below to WIN a copy of the newest book by Annie Downs: Let’s All Be Brave.
Purchase the book HERE.
View the book trailer HERE.
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I love the idea of this book! I want to be brave, to see bravery in myself. If I don’t win a copy of this book, I’ll surely go out and buy it.
God bless. Grace and Peace.
Dear Joy and Annie with an F.,
I enjoyed your podcast. I appreciated hearing you talk to each other as friends, to your friends.
I look forward to reading your book Annie. I met Joy when she spoke to our single’s group at a weekend event in rural Oregon, and loved her energy and passion for Loving and Respecting Now. I, too, am 34 and grew up a Christian. I was born in Montgomery, AL, and lived there for 2 weeks, until we moved to Seattle. Does that make me a Southern Belle? I’ve lived in Oregon and Washington the most of my life (and I went to grad school in Vermont. It is a lovely state!)
My nick name growing up was Brave Beth. I’m willing to take risks and leaps of faith. In the last year two ‘brave’ things that I’ve done, is wrestled Thyroid Cancer and all of its consequences and processes of healing. It’s been a journey in trusting God and His timing!
I’ve also been taking improv theater (short form) classes, and performing in a bar in Corvallis, OR. I’ve had a lot of fun being creative on the spot. It’s helped me to laugh and find humor in everyday life. I can relate to the feeling of ‘I’m not funny enough, or I did this wrong’, but I’m reminded that in improv, ‘Failure is funny’. I’ve taken alot of ‘improv lessons’ and applied them to my daily life. It would be amazing to take classes at IO or Second City.
Here is a short clip of an improv scene ‘Choose your own Adventure’ I performed in Corvallis with the Infinite Improv Troupe. Warning, there is an F-bomb. I’m the actor on the far right.
Choose your Own Adventure scene:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B42j67L9xwPtYlh0WE02Mmk4TEk/edit?usp=sharing
Joy, good luck with the Harold. I’ve not done much long form, but look forward to doing to one day. Do you perform/take classes at the Brody Theatre in Portland? I have friends who perform there.
Finally, I also watched ‘Square 1’ on PBS, looking forward to Mathnet on each episode. Then staying on for Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. I also liked the A-Team and Inspector Gadget…
Peace and Blessings to you both. Keep up the GREAT work!
Beth (enclosure: *e-glitter* *e-unicorns*)
Love this! While living in China, there were a few people that made me feel brave. One was my friend Becs… We would meet every other Saturday morning and share food and life. I was always so encouraged to face life after being with her. The other was my leaders wife… I valued her counsel so much and have such a deep respect for her and knew that The Lord was using her in my life to teach me new roads of obedience and surrender. So grateful for those two! They make me brave, they encouraged me to pursue the next phase…. even though I moved 8,000 miles away from them I am thankful for technology that connects us!
My teen daughter loves Annie’s books. Look forward to reading this one!
I would love a copy of this book! What makes me brave…seeing others go before me and lots of prayer! 🙂
thankful for y’all. and for your words.
What a dynamic duo!! Too of my favorite folks in the blogosphere! Thanks ladies for being so awesome!
You both make me want to be brave!
>>GO DAWGS!
Just in case you needed a nostalgic moment with Monday and Frankly… http://youtu.be/GJmWPNckrpo I loved Mathnet!
Oh I want to be brave!
Being brave is something I choose to do every day, by saying yes and saying no, but I’ve always been interested in learning new things and new and better ways to do things you already do. I feel like Annie’s book is going to do exactly that!
Thank you both for being honest and for just living life out loud! I am so inspired by the both of you!
Wow, there’s so many things to comment on here, but I’m really just posting to get into the book drawing. So you can ignore everything else. 🙂
First, Vermont: I went to Vermont once (I’ve been everywhere); it was very nice up there. It’s one of those places that I, as a Texan, forget exists. Seriously, it’s one of those places I think, “Do people really live there?”
Second, Oregon Trail Tours: You can go on 11 day bus tours from Missouri all the way to Oregon based on the trail. They have all kinds of stops with historical stuff. Also, you can still find wagon ruts in the mountains of Oregon and along the trail.
Next, The guy going to weddings for the buffets: I LOVE THIS IDEA! I only go to weddings I am invited to, but I only go for the food. SIDE NOTE: Y’all talk about food a lot. Now I’m hungry. LOL
Finally, Being Brave: There are some portions of my life that I have bravery in. I just burned through most of my life savings to start my own business. It scares me but I am brave enough to do it. I wish I was this brave in my personal life. My severe introversion and past failures makes it challenging to introduce myself to other people. I can barely talk to a person face-to-face unless it’s about business. It’s strange that I can snorkel with sharks and sting rays, catch snakes with my bare hands, explore caves and forests, but I can’t talk to women.
Annie and Joy, be blessed.
You guys are the cutest. I can say cute because I graduated in the 90’s which makes me like a Golden Girl compared to you two.
This podcast (which had a plethora of impressive sponsors btw) kept me from doing my real job for 50+ minutes. Ah, the beauties of freelancing. I’ll be up all night thanks to you guys.
P.S. I really want this book. The bravest thing I’ve done lately is drive through the exit instead of the entrance to my mother’s gated community. My palms were sweaty. What a rush.
I’m glad you and Annie are friends, loved y’all at IF!
I read Annie’s Perfectly Unique a couple years ago and loved it- I would love to read her new book as well!
This post was so fun, in so many ways!
When I’m not being brave, my internal mantra is often, “Just put your big girl panties on, Trina.” There are daily dragons to fight and hills to climb, one moment at a time.
I think part of being brave is being your uninhibited selves and you both modeled this so beautifully while hosting IF’s backstage. You inspire me to be more uninhibited myself and embrace how I’m wired and called to be.
Can’t wait to read your book, Annie, and to one day hear your laugh live and in person.
I’m stuck in a scared cycle right now. I desperately want to be brave and step into this next new thing. I think I need this book!
Being brave…..such a simple idea…but oh my, not easy! Working on this in so many areas!
Okay… you guys are hilarious and it was so fun to “eavesdrop” into your conversation. I’ve kind of been obsessed with both Joy and Annie from doing IF:Equip. So it was fun to listen to you guys some more!
One of the first things I did was actually Google Annie Downs myself… and this Twitter account came up. https://twitter.com/anniedowns. It has one tweet… to redirect us all to the REAL Annie Downs.
Looking forward to reading your book. Hope I win it, but it’s in my Amazon cart in case I don’t 🙂
I’ve been mulling this concept and need in my life quite a bit lately. So interested to read the book!
I cannot wait to read this book! I love the reminder that bravery cannot come from our selves, but is better found in community with others!
Heard Annie speak to a group of students recently and so glad she is out there sharing this message! Be brave with you love and that when you love someone it often interrupts your life and daily schedule, but that is okay. People need that. You need that. Glad that she is out there telling people that we have to love and be interrupted by love because it is the same thing Christ did for us on the cross! Such a refreshing reminder!
This book sounds so awesome! I have never regretted being brave, but I certainly have regretted being too timid.
This book sounds like a great idea! Would love to get my hands on one. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I’ve been seeing promotion for this book everywhere. Very intrigued to give it a read!
Thank Y’ALL for this wonderful conversation! (I like saying y’all too.)
Thank y’all for this wonderful conversation! (I like saying y’all too.) Can’t wait to read Annie’s words. Also you talked about a city that shares my name, so… destiny.
You ladies made me laugh while binge-watching IF in February! Thanks for allowing us to listen in on this (enlightening?) conversation. I’m with Annie, though, in the no hot sauce camp and Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart is set on the DVR, just below Nashville. 🙂 But Joy, I’m a PNW gal myself, so your Portlandia-ness trumps all.
Sarah L thinks...
“Be brave with your love” – seems to be a theme I keep hearing these days and needed the reminder again. Sounds like a great, encouraging book!
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