{"id":119,"date":"2025-12-18T15:59:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T15:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/?p=119"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:09:20","slug":"the-hawk-the-road-and-the-weight-of-becoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/the-hawk-the-road-and-the-weight-of-becoming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hawk, the Road, and the Weight of Becoming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A reflection on fear, creativity, and trusting what we\u2019re carrying<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Today, I had one of those moments that stops you in your tracks \u2014 not because anything terrible happened, but because something real<\/em> did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I was driving down a quiet country road after grocery shopping. A happy, upbeat song I wrote with the help of AI was playing in the car. The song is called I Love You Just the Way You Are<\/em>, and it has been making me smile every time I hear it. For a brief moment, everything felt light.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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And then \u2014 suddenly \u2014 a Cooper\u2019s hawk flew up from the side of the road right in front of my car. It was carrying a squirrel. For a split second I wasn\u2019t sure if it dropped it, but I\u2019m fairly certain it did. The hawk disappeared into the trees just as quickly as it had appeared, and I kept driving \u2014 startled, quiet, and oddly reflective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Nothing about this moment felt mystical at first. It was simply nature being nature. But later, as I sat with it, the image kept returning to me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A hawk carrying something heavy.
The road rushing forward.
The sudden interruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I realized something gently important: I am in a season of carrying something that matters deeply to me \u2014 and it\u2019s heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carrying Something Worth the Effort<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Right now, I\u2019m building a new brand. It\u2019s still early. It doesn\u2019t yet support us financially. Winter is coming, and with it the familiar worry about bills, savings, and uncertainty. Like many creative entrepreneurs, my heart is full \u2014 but my bank account hasn\u2019t caught up yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I thought again about the hawk, what stood out to me wasn\u2019t that it struggled\u2026 it was that it had already caught something real<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The squirrel wasn\u2019t imaginary.
The hawk wasn\u2019t failing.
It was simply carrying something substantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in that, I recognized myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes when we\u2019re building something meaningful \u2014 a business, a creative life, a healing path \u2014 the weight of it can make us question whether we\u2019re strong enough. Not because we doubt the value<\/em> of what we\u2019re carrying\u2026 but because we feel the strain of carrying it without immediate support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hawk didn\u2019t drop the squirrel because it wasn\u2019t worthy.
It dropped it because of an interruption<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that felt like an important distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Fear Feels Like a \u201cSign\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At first, I wondered if the hawk was telling me I needed to put everything down and go back to what feels safer and more familiar. That thought brought up sadness and a tightening in my chest. It felt like giving up something that still feels very alive inside me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then I remembered something else:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was the one driving the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car didn\u2019t have to represent fate.
It could represent my state of mind<\/strong>.
My speed.
My fear.
My scarcity thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we interpret fear as a message from the universe, when really it\u2019s just our nervous system saying, \u201cSlow down. This feels heavy right now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everything heavy is wrong.
And not everything urgent is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What I Took From the Moment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what this experience gently offered me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 You can hold something meaningful even if it feels heavy
\u2022 Interruption is not the same as failure
\u2022 Fear can feel like a warning, but it isn\u2019t always wisdom
\u2022 You don\u2019t need to drop your dream to survive
\u2022 Sometimes you just need to adjust how you\u2019re carrying it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hawk didn\u2019t lose its identity because of that moment.
It didn\u2019t stop being a hawk.
It would likely return to hunt again \u2014 in a different way, or in a different moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that gave me a deep sense of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heather\u2019s Joy and the Season I\u2019m In<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heather\u2019s Joy is being built from real life \u2014 not from perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s being built from:
\u2022 creativity in uncertainty
\u2022 love in the middle of pressure
\u2022 hope before proof
\u2022 joy before profit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s also being built with practical honesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, I\u2019m learning how to let my creativity serve me in new ways \u2014 not just through products, but through music, storytelling, animation, and connection. I\u2019m learning how to let joy be both meaningful and<\/em> supportive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hawk didn\u2019t tell me to quit.
It reminded me to carry wisely<\/strong>.
To not let fear drive while I\u2019m holding something that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that feels like exactly the heart of Heather\u2019s Joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If You\u2019re in a Heavy Season Too<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you found your way to this post because you\u2019re also carrying something big right now \u2014 a dream, a business, a healing journey, a responsibility \u2014 I want you to know this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling the weight doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re failing.
It usually means you\u2019re holding something real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to drop what you love just because it feels heavy.
You may simply be in the part of the journey where strength is being built quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that, too, is a kind of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With love,
Heather Goff
Founder of Heather\u2019s Joy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heather\u2019s Joy is more than a studio – it\u2019s a way of creating, living, and sharing that begins with wonder and ends with connection. Whether through pottery, plush toys, websites, or words, I follow what lights me up – and build from there. My hope is that by sharing the process, it helps you find what lights you up too.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sudden encounter with a hawk on a quiet road led to an unexpected reflection on what it means to carry something heavy\u2014but real. A gentle meditation on fear, creativity, and holding your dream with both hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-entrepreneurship","category-reflections-from-the-studio"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/heathers-Joy-Blog-Posts.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heathersjoy.com\/play\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}