Terrified

Today, I woke up terrified. No, I didn't have a bad dream and my life wasn't in danger.

I drafted an email late last night to the almost 400 existing members of Diversability and scheduled for it to be sent early this morning. Finally crossed this one off my to-do list.

But I thought about why it had managed to stay on my list every week. It's because I'm scared. I don't know if I can do it. I'm terrified.

Now it's real. I put it out into the universe--people I've never met before--that I'm bringing Diversability back. Accountability at its finest. 

Then my friend shared a piece she had written on her brother. Stories are beautiful. Stories are powerful. Stories can be shared. And in the period of 7 months, can reach more than 8 million unique visitors. That's a lot.

To be honest, creating Diversability was one of my proudest accomplishments at Georgetown. I didn't know it at the time, but putting myself out there made me feel more comfortable in my own skin. And the impact we had on others, even if it was just a handful of people, meant everything to me.

Diversability had a few good years after I graduated, from becoming an official group recognized by the university's Student Activities Commission in 2010 to this interview with E.R.A.S.E. (Educating Residents About Social Equality) with Diversability's President Kate Newman and VP Nancy Oduro in 2013.

About a month ago, someone reached out to me asking me if I was still involved with Diversability and was interested to hear more about it. Five days later, I got an email that ended like this: "I think it's great that you have brought publicity and awareness to individuals with disability. I'm not sure when I would be ready, but I have wanted to do the same for some time now."

I felt like it was a sign.

Starting anything new is scary, whether it's a new job, a new relationship, or a new venture. But what I do know is I am passionate about this space and I'm passionate about making an impact. Are we filling a white space? I'm not sure. Can we reach millions? We'll see. We all started somewhere.

If it's both terrifying and amazing, then you should definitely pursue it.