All eyes were on me at the front of the room.
I’d prepared three simple sentences in Portuguese to introduce the DragonHeart Quest, and practiced them obsessively so they’d sound natural.
“Eu acredito que tu importas…”
And then I choked. My mind went blank.
The room was quiet. People smiled kindly. Or maybe with pity. My friend and Portuguese tutor beside me tried not to wince.
Damn.
I pulled out my phone and read the rest.
It reminds me of when I first started as a wedding DJ. Every time I picked up the mic, I’d stumble over the first sentence. Every single time.
Then I’d be fine for the rest of the night. The habit lasted for about two years before fading away without explanation.
Sometimes my nerves still get the best of me. I show up anyway.
Last weekend was my first in-person DragonHeart Pod here in Portugal.
Eight people at the LGBTQ community center around a table spread with paints, pens and stickers. We did two rounds of micro-creations.
Here’s one of mine:
At the end, I asked what people were taking forward.
“Do it scared.”
“I’m too hard on myself.”
“I haven’t been creative since I was a kid. I loved this!”
“You start feeling pressure. Then it disappears once you get going.”
Yes. Exactly.
The DragonHeart Quest looks simple.
Create something small. Share it. Tell the story.
But what you actually meet is everything that gets in the way of creating anything at all.
You get to see your expectations and judgements, the pressure…and what happens when you just CREATE anyway.
When you stay with it, something shifts.
It’s a lesson in creation itself.
When I asked for feedback after the first round, one participant said:
“That was horrible!”
They’re an artist, and they’d spent most of the time trying to get it right and ran out of time. They couldn’t stand the result.
But at the end, they pulled me aside.
“Thank you,” they said. “I’ve been so serious with my art, I lost the freedom. This was just what I needed.”
Sometimes things go better than they might seem at first.
Even when you have a public brain freeze moment, you can still create. No matter what you feel, you’ll get over it.
This is what the Quest reveals:
You don’t need to feel ready.
You don’t need to feel confident.
You don’t even need to feel good.
You just need to start.
Is it time for YOU to take the Quest?
Meet me online for a DragonHeart Pod.
Or take the Quest on your own (or invite some friends!) if you’re brave:
https://www.dragonheartquest.com
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️🔥
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